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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Cliap. Copyright No. 

Slielf_.____ 



UN!TED STATES OF AMERICA. 



\:ri,r^ 



Talks to Young People 



GIVEN BEFORE THE BETHANY PARK 
SUMMER ASSEMBLY 



Xj 



o. ... TYLEE 

A Trustee of the United Society of Christian Endeavor and National Superin- 
tendent of Christian Endeavor among the Disciples of Christ 



WITH AN INTRO DTTCTION BY 

FRANCIS E. CLARK, D. D, 

President of the World's Union of . Christian Endeavor 






APR 6 1896/ 



CINCINNATI 
THE STANDARD PUBLISHING CO 
Publishers of Christian Literature 



\0 



^x-* 



Copyright, 1896, by 
The Standard Publishing Company 



5^. 



^0 n^p own C^if^wn, 

Garnett, Ethel and Miriam. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 
The Days of Our Youth 1 

The Companionship of Books 21 

The Problejni of Temptation 41 

Making The Most of One's Self 65 

Marks of Christian Growth 85 

The Christian Endeavor Pledge 107 

Characteristics of Our Times 130 



INTEODTJCTIOK 



T^UBLISHERS and authors, like the rest of the world, rec- 
yl ognize that this is "The Young People's Age." Our 
1^ presses groan with their burden of literature for the 
i young. Our book shelves are crowded with juvenile lit- 
erature, and books which appeal to young men and women. 

Much of this literature is unwholesome, morbid, and 
deadly in its character ; much of it, thank God, is sweet and 
pure and strong. Of this latter kind we can not have too 
much, and I am glad that the author of this volume has 
added one more to the number of wholesome, life-giving 
books. 

To write such a book is like opening a new well in the 
desert. We can not have too much sweet and untainted 
water; for soul-thirst is constantly recurring and must be 
constantly quenched. 

It seems to me that the author of this volume has happily 
avoided the two rocks on which writers for the young most 
frequently founder. On the one hand, he has steered clear of 
the Scylla of frivolity, silliness, and weak platitude, which 
some authors seem to suppose is fitted to the youthful intel- 
lect ; and, on the other hand, he has avoided the Charybdis 
of prosiness and tedious dryness which another class of au- 
thors seem to think is good pabulum for the young. 

I have not found a frivolous line in the book, and I have 
not found a dull one. If this is high praise I think its readers 
will bear me witness, when they have finished it, that it is 
not simply the partial estimate of a friend, but the genuine 
conviction of a critic as well. 

There is plenty of learning and research in the book, but 
it is not obtruded or used by a pedant. 



vi. TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

These are just such chapters as every father would like to 
put into the hands of his growing boys to fire their holiest 
ambitions, and engender within them the manliest impulses. 

Such chapters a mother would lay before her daugliters 
as they bloom into w^omanhood, that their lives may be ever 
sweet and true. 

Such good advice, thus attractively presented, the teacher 
will desire his pupils to read, and every lover of youth will 
wish for this book the widest circulation. 

Just such truths as these, presented in this winning way, 
the wise pastor would like to present to his listening groups of 
boys and girls, and young men and women. But all pastors, 
whatever may be their other admirable qualities, have not 
the gift of thus presenting the truth concretely and freshly. 

This book will present the truth from a pastor's stand- 
point, and will give Doctor Tyler, I believe, an exceedingly 
wide parish in all the land. 

To those who read this book may I speak an earnest 
word? It is not strictly in the province of one who writes 
an introduction to exhort his readers, but I can not refrain 
from asking every one who reads this book to take it as a 
message from a man who knows young people and loves 
them ; a message from a man with a young heart who knows 
the temptations, the trials, the necessities of youth. 

It is not merely a series of sermons printed in cold ink 
and type ; it is the earnest message of a warm. Christian heart 
to those whom he desires to help and save. Read it with this 
thought, young men and women, read it as though you heard 
the living voice of your friend burdened with his desire for 
you as an individual, and it will open for you the door of 
opportunity, and set wide for you the mortals of a useful 
and blessed life. 

FRANCIS E. CLARK. 
: Boston, February 22, 180G. 



THE DAYS OF OUR YOUTH 



TDECKLESS youth makes rueful age.— Franklin. 

^ Youth is the opportunity to do something and to be- 
come somebody. — T. T. Munger. 



Youth is to all the glad seasons of life, but often only by 
what it hopes, not by what it attains or escapes. — Carlylc. 



Youth is the period of building up in habits, and hopes, 
and faiths. Not an hour but is trembling with destinies ; not 
a moment, once passed, of which the appointed work can ever 
be done again, or the neglected blow struck on the cold iron. — 
Ituskin. 

The color of our whole life is generally such as the three 
or four first years in which we are our own masters make it. 
Then it is that we may be said to shape our own destiny, 
and to treasure up for ourselves a series of future successes 
or disappointments. — Cowper. 



There is no usurer whose profits can be compared for one 
moment with the results you may reap, if you have the wisdom 
and grace, in time of boyhood and youth, to extract from your 
hours the best they are capable of yielding. — Gladstone. 



Of all the great human actions I have ever heard or read 
of, I have observed, both in former ages and in our own, more 
have been performed before the age of thirty than after ; and 
oftentimes in the lives of the same men. — Montaigne. 



TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



Every period of life has its peculiar temptations and 
dangers; but youth is the time when we are most likely to be 
ensnared ; it is during this season that the character assumes 
its permanent shape and color, and the young are wont to take 
their course for time and eternity. — /. Hawes. 

It is a mistake to leave young people to the play and 
power of circumstances. They should be taught to study, 
grapple, and control circumstances. We must wait for years 
to mature, and for experience to give wisdom ; but we are to 
wait actively. We must assure the boy that he is free and 
responsible ; in a large sense the arbiter of his own destiny ; 
and that while he may trust in God, he must put God-trust 
into will-force. Believing, he must be and do. — John H. 
Vincent. 



THE DAYS OF OUR YOUTH, 



rilHE history of the discovery of Florida contains 
-'- a touching story of human desire and delusion. 
According to a tradition current among the natives 
of Porto Rico, there was an island, somewhere in the 
Bahama group, which had upon it a marvelous foun- 
tain whose magical waters possessed the power of 
producing perpetual youth. Jean Ponce de Leon, a 
Spanish discoverer who had accompanied Columbus 
on his second voyage, made an expedition to Porto 
Rico in 1508, and having conquered the island, gov- 
erned it with severity till the family of Columbus 
caused his removal. He was then advanced in years 
and broken in health by hardship and disappoint- 
ment. The desire to renew his youth became the 
passion of his life, and he entered with great enthu- 
siasm and determination upon the discovery of the 
fabled fountain. The story of his eager but fruitles« 
search, his dream of rejuvenation while the tide of life 
continued to ebb, is a striking picture of our human 
longing to regain the days of youth when once they 

5 



6 TALKS TO YOUXG PEOPLE. 

have passed away. It was during this fruitless s( arch 
fur the Fountain of Youth that Ponce de Leon chanced 
to discover Florida. 

But, suppose that he had been successful. Suppose 
that he had found in some mountain dell, on mainland 
or island, a sparkling fountain whose magic waters 
could remove the infirmities of sge and restore the 
freshness, the buoyant health, the elastic step, the 
joyous spirit of youth. The discovery of Columl)Us 
by which the wealth of a continent was added to the 
world and the wonderful progress of modern civiliza- 
tion made possible, would not, in the general judg- 
ment of mankind, be equal to it. Who that knows 
anything of the longings of age for the return of the 
manifold blessing of youth can for one moment doul»t 
that such a fountain would be the Mecca of the aged 
and the infirm? Hither they would come from every 
quarter. No pilgrimage would be regarded as too 
laborious; no gi^ts too great for the privilege of 
drinking its rejuvenating waters that the current of 
fresh blood might turn back the ebbing tide of life 
and restore its exhausted energies. As spring renews 
tiie wasted energies of nature and clothes the fields 
and forests and gardens and meadows with fresh ver- 
dure, awakening the joyous song of birds and renew- 
ing the fragrance of flowers, so would the waters of 
this fountain of life bring back the vigor, the beauty, 
the bloom of youth. The marks of age would disap- 
pear as silently as the snow of winter. The furrows 
of time would be effaced, the faltering step would 



THE DAYS OF OUR YOUTH. 



become firm and elastic, the whitened locks would 
resume their youthful color, the eyes would glow 
agaia with the glad light of early life, and the dis- 
couraged heart would thrill with the enthusiastic hope 
of a cloudless morning. Although the dream of Ponce 
de Leon was but a delusive dream, we can not recall 
it without a longing that it might stand for some 
reality. There is within us an instinctive thirst for 
the waters of the Fountain of Perpetual Youth. 

Nor have we far t > search for reasons. There is a 
brightness, a charm, peculiar to all fresh life. It is 
full of elastic energy; of glee and gladness. The 
sparkling dew belongs to the morning. The glad 
notes with which the feathered songsters of the forest 
greet the new day become silent as the day advances. 
The smile that glows upon the face of nature in the 
springtime settles into a thoughtfulness as the year 
moves on toward its autumn and winter. Sometimes 
it seems to deepen into a melancholy. The course of 
tlie year is a parable of human life. We have our 
fresh springtime, our toiling summer, our autumn — 
sometimes fruitful and sometimes fruitless, but never 
without foretokens of the end — and then, the winter 
with its winding sheet of snow. All life seems to 
move in cycles, and, as a rule, on every plane, its 
opening period is its brightest. 

This proverbial brightness of you h is the result of 
a combination of causes. I think it is, first of all, to 
be attributed, in large part to causes purely physical. 
The current of life is then full an-d fresh and strong. 



TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



There is a flow of animal spirit, a peculiar zest and 
relish for the mere experience of living. Youth is 
naturally playful. We delight in activity, in adven- 
ture, in athletic sports, in whatever gives vent to our 
unwasted energies. It is a time, too, when all things 
are growing. There is an onward flow, a steady 
progress, a continuous enlargement. Buds are opening 
into the green leaf, new shoots are putting forth and 
blossoms are developing into fruit. There is an air of 
prophecy, a delightful spirit of expectancy. The light 
of to-morrow gilds even the clouds of to-day, and our 
songs are glad with the hope of what seems to stand 
upon the threshold soon to be realized in our own ex- 
perience. It is a time of bright dreams, the building 
of fairy castles in the air, and nothing seems impos- 
sible. The world is new. Experience has not yet 
dulled the keen edge of relish, nor dimmed the fair 
vision of life. I shall never forget my first trip out 
into the world, nor fail to recall its experiences with 
a peculiar delight. It was during a summer vacation, 
while I wa? yet in school. Not a voyage around the 
world would now so deeply impress me nor afford me 
such delight. Everything was new. Each day was 
Letter than the one that preceded it, and the morrow 
was full of larger expectation, and it never failed to 
bring more than it promised. The record of this 
summer trip is a sample page out of the history of 
youth in its healthful and normal experience. It can 
never be repeated. Then, too, our youth is the period 
of warm and generous impulses. Disappointment has 



THE BAYS OF OUR YOUTH. 



not generated suspicion and caution. We Ohteem 
things at their best. It is the time of confidences, the 
time when our most intimate friendships are formed. 
There can never be in later life ju^t such intimate 
companionships as we form in its earlier years. We 
may enlarge the circle of our acquaintance as the 
years increase, but we shall never again come into such 
intimate fellowships as those which brighten youth. 
Such, it seems to me, are some of the reasons why 
youth is proverbially bright. Its vigorous health and 
buoyant spirit, its unfolding powers of body and of 
mind, its enlarging visions and enthusiastic purpose, 
the novelty that gives a peculiar charm to all our ex- 
periences, and the generous spirit that so cordially 
welcomes the confidence and fellowship of intimate 
friendship. It faces the rising sun, and sees not the 
shadows stretching out toward the west. 

There is a vague feeling of eternity in youth ; to 
be young is to be as one of the immortals. It is 
difficult for us to think of the aged as having once 
been youthful, or to realize that we shall some day be 
l)roken and palsied by the touch and burden of age. 
Not long ago an incident was reported in the news- 
papers which illustrates this. A mine that had 
been closed many years ago by an accident was recently 
opened again. The body of a young miner who 
perished in the accident was taken out in a remarkable 
state of preservation. It seems that the unguided 
action of chemical forces, working in the depth of that 
sealed mine, resulted in a case of embalming that 



10 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

sur])assed human skill. The form was still fall and 
the features distinct, retaining i-omething of the fresh- 
ness of life. His appearance was quite youthful. The 
story of tills remarkable find, spreading through the 
surrounding community, brought many to look upon 
tne body, if perchance some one might identify it, but 
none remembered ever to have seen him. Even the 
tradition of the accident that had closed the mine had 
become dim with age, and a new generation had come 
into the world since that day. Not far away there 
lived, in quiet seclusion, an aged widow broken with 
grief and bent by the burden of years. Few knew 
anything of her early history. Upon hearing of the 
remarkable recovery from the old mine she ba&tened 
to the place at once to view the body. Through the 
crowd she slowly threaded her way until lier eyes 
rested upon the youthful form, and then she burst into 
a passionate lamentation, the spectators looking on in 
silent wonder. The body was that of her own hus- 
band, but the contrast between her age and his youth 
was so great that it was difficult to realize that she 
had even been his youthful bride. The young, 
(specially, could not think of her as ever having been 
young. 

But, although yet young, we are growing old. 
Our bark is launched on the sea of life, and we are 
already passing out from the narrow bay into the 
broad exi»flnse of the ocean. The currents of this great 
sea are s tting outward from the port we have left. 
The winds are off-shore, strong, and unchangeable. 



THE DAYS OF OUR YOUTH. 11 

Go we must. We can ntilher stop nor turn back. 
The voyage must be made, whether we wiil or not. 
Regrets are idle, sighs are useless, murmurings are 
uuwise, resistance is impossible. It is the part of 
wisdom to give thoughttul attention at once to the 
conditions in which we find ourselves, and to strive to 
make the voyage as delightful and as prosperous as 
possible; to study the chart that may guide us all at 
last into the desired haven. It is the duty and it 
onglit to be the pleasure of age and experience to 
warn and instruct youth, and to come to the aid of 
inexperience. Wlien sailors have discovered the 
shoals and hidden rocks and treacherous places at sea, 
and have had the good fortune to escape from them 
with life, unless they be pirates or barbarians as well 
as sailors, tliey point out these places and have signals 
put there in order that others may not be exposed to 
the dangers they have so narrowly escaped. One of 
our first duties, therefore, is to indicate some of the 
dangers peculiar to youth. 

Every period of life has its peculiar temptations 
and dangers, but youth is the time when we are most 
likely to be ensnared. The dangers of youth come, 
in some measure, from its inexperience. It carries a 
widespread sail, and but little ballast; a mighty force 
works in the engine, but the pilot is unused to the sea. 
Then, too, we are confiding and hopeful. Our young 
eyes look out upon the sea under the light of the 
morning sun, and not far away the sky and sea seem 
to meet. The smile of the bending heavens is 



12 TALKS TO YOUNO PEOPLE. 

reflected from the face of the sparkling waters, and we 
little dream that mantling fogs and hidden reefs and 
whirling maelstorms and brooding storms may make 
the voyage of life a perilous one. I wish to indicate 
to you some of the sources of danger ; the directions 
in which you are to look for perils. 

First of all, our instinctive craving for pleasure : 
God means us to enjoy this life, but we need to look 
well to the sources of our enjoyment. It is said 
that where the most beautiful cacti grow, there the 
venomous serpents are to be found. Cleopatra's asp 
was introduced in a basket of flowers. It appears that 
in mediaeval times when a plot was laid against the 
life of some prince or other great person deadly poison 
was conveyed to them by means of the beautiful 
flowers. The poisoned flowers of Pleasure are slaying 
their thousands to-day, and that, not among the rich 
and great only, but among all classes and conditions 
of men. There is an old story concerning a Persian 
monk that enforces the lesson I would teach. Enter- 
ing a confectioner's shop one day the confectioner, to 
honor him, poured some honey into a dish before him. 
Immediately a swarm of flies settled, as was their 
wont, upon the honey; some upon the edge of the 
dish, but the greater number in the middle. The 
confectioner then took up a whisk to drive them off, 
when those upon the side flew away with ease ; but the 
others were prevented from rising by the honey cling- 
ing to their wings, and were involved in ruin. The 
monk noticed this and remarked : " That honey-dish 



THE DAYS OF OUR YOUTH. 13 

is like the world, and the honey like its pleasures. 
Those who enjoy them with moderation, not having 
their hearts filled with the love of them, may with ease 
escape ; while those who, like foolish flies, have given 
themselves wholly to their sweetness will perish be- 
cause of their folly." Beware of the world's honey- 
dishes. It is the art and power of vice to make itself 
attractive to the young. Satan knows how to bait a 
hook. 

Perils arise also from our carnal nature. We are 
two-fold, and it is as true to-day as it was when Paul 
wrote it that " the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and 
the spirit against the flesh ; and these are contrary the 
one to the other." A few years ago there appeared a 
book entitled " Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." The story 
is rather a weird one. It seems that the doctor had 
discovered a chemical which possessed the strange 
power, when taken, of transforming him into another 
character, and then he could resume his normal con- 
dition by the use of a certain antidote. This is the 
basis of the story, as I remember it. Dr. Jeykll was 
a man of good standing and of excellent character. 
He was noble, upright, benevolent and pure. But 
when, by use of this strange chemical, he would trans- 
form himself into Mr. Hyde, the change in conduct 
and character, and even of personal appearance, was 
most radical. In that state he was guilty of most de- 
basing deeds and of unclean conversation. The story 
makes it to appear, also, that the change from Dr. 
Jekyll to Mr. Hyde became easier as time went by, 



14 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

but the change back from Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyll 
became more difficult. Whatever may have been the 
purpose of Mr. Stevenson in writing this story I know 
not, but it seems to me a true parable of the struggle 
within our dual nature. Within us are the tendencies 
and elements of two lives, radically different yet 
vitally Joined. The question of questions lor every 
young person to answer is, Which shall be dominant? 
Will we be Dr. Jekyll or will we be Mr. Hyde? Or, 
shall we enter upon the perilous experiment of being 
first the one and then the other? Remember, in that 
case there is of necessity a tendency to become per- 
manently Mr. Hyde. Th s is the uniform test'mony 
of human experience always and everywhere. 

Let me speak a word, also, concerning perils from 
evil companionship. In youth we are somewhat like 
the tree-frog that acquires the color of whatever it 
adheres to. We partake of tho character of those 
with whom we associate. The old story of the parrots, 
although slightly improbable, carries a good moral. 
These two parrots lived near each other. One was 
accustomed to sing hymns, while the other was ad- 
dicted to swearing. The owner of the latter obtained 
permission for it to associate with the former, hoping 
its bad habit would thus be corrected. But the 
opposite result followed, for both L arned to swear 
alike, and neither sang. It is pf-rilou-^ for the average 
young person to associate with evil, thinking that he 
will reform the evil and himself rema n uninfluenced. 
It is as if one should willingly expose himself to 



THE DAYS OF OUR YOUTH. 15 

iufectious diseases. The waters of a river may be sweet 
and pure befote they reach the city, but after they 
have kept company awhile with drains and sewers 
instead of purifying the drains and sewers they them- 
selves have become contaminated and poisoned. Nor 
is the corruption we receive from evil companions 
easily eradicated. John B. Gough, the great temper- 
ance orator, has said : " I tell you in all sincerity, not 
as in the excitement of speech, but as I would confess 
and have confessed before God, I would give my right 
hand to-night if I could forget that which I learned 
in evil s -ciety; if I could efface from my memory the 
scenes which I have witnessed, the transactions which 
have taken place before me. You can not, I believe, 
take away the efft ct of a single impure thought that 
has lodged and harbored in the heart. You may pray 
against it ; and, by God^s grace, you may conquer it ; 
but it will, through 1 fe, cause you bitterness and 
an<;uish." This testimony is true, and if by bringing 
it before you I can warn you against evil companions 
and save you from the bitter consequences which come 
from early association with impurity I shall be glad. 
The lack of a definite purpose in youth is another 
source of peril. They who aim at nothing are certain 
to hit it. If life means nothing in youth it will come 
to nothing in age. The lack of purpose is dem ral- 
izing. If my observation has taught me anything it 
is that idleness is one of the most seductive and deadly 
perils of youth. We often speak of intemperance as 
the parent of all vices, but I question whether lack of 



16 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

purpose and its consequent idleness is not the father 
of quite as numerous a family of evils. I do not mean 
simply that one should be occupied, but that his occu- 
pation should be inspired by a noble purpose and 
directed to a worthy end. Some one told me the 
story of two men who worked in the same factory. 
Having an hour for their nooning every day, each 
undertook to use it in accomplishing a definite pur- 
pose ; each persevered about the same number of 
months, and each won success at last. One of them 
used his leisure hour in working out an invention ; 
the other spent his in the very difficult undertaking 
of teaching a little dog to stand on his hind feet and 
dance, while he played the tune. The first man, 
having completed his invention, changed his work- 
man's apron for a better suit and moved out of a tene- 
ment house into a brown-stone mansion. But what of 
the other man ? At last accounts he was working ten 
hours a day at the same trade and at his old wages, 
and was murmuring against the fate that made his 
fellow workman rich while leaving him poor. But 
leisure moments used for worthy ends may bring 
wealth of character as well as wealth of purse. More- 
over, there is no surer safeguard against evil than to 
be guided by the light of a high aim. It makes us 
deaf to the voice of the tempter and blind to the 
allurements of poisoned pleasures. 

We will find it wholesome to pause while we are 
yet in the days of our youth, and ask ourselves why 
we live. Life must have a deep significance, and we 



THE DAYS OF OUR YOUTH. 17 

should lose no time iu our effort to grasp its deeper 
meanings. The mystery of our being, the instinctive 
upward look o( our own nature, the deeper yearnings 
and prophetic voicts within ought to assure us that we 
arc designed for a high destiny. Sooue there are who 
seem to live without ultimate purpose. Life is in 
them and it remains there ; and so they continue to 
live, but for what they know not nor seem to care. 
They take no solemn thought of to-day, nor fore- 
thought of to-morrow. They can have no plan of 
life because they have no purpose in living. Others 
appear to have no purpose beyond that of providing 
themselves with the necess'ties of their lower nature, 
that they may have food and raiment and shelter. It 
has never been disclosed to them thai tlie great pur- 
pose of life goes far beyond the most abundant supply 
of these, and lies in a higher rralm ; that it is the 
development of character. A man's character is his 
real self, and is the result of his own choice and effort. 
The first duty of every one is — in the highest a.nd 
broadest sense — to make the most ( f one's self. 

During the few minutes yet remaining for this 
morning's talk I wish to present some reasons wliy I 
esteem the days of our youth as of unparalleled im- 
portance, and to indicate some conditions of success. 
We can do no more now than deal with this phase of 
our subject in outline. That which most impresses 
me is the thought that in youth we must lay our 
foundations, and we all know that no matter how good 
the walls may be, if the foundations are not strong the 



18 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

building can not stand. By and bye, in some upper 
room a crack will appear, and men will say, " There 
is the crack, but the cause is in the foundation.'^ So 
if, in the days of our youth, we lay the foundations of 
character wrongly, the penalty will be sure to follow. 
Many years may elapse, we may be far down in old 
age, but somewhere it will surely appear. The 
principles up )n which we build, whether they be 
good or bad, sound or corrupt, are being laid in 
youth. 

The course of life is determined in youth. It is 
said that near the summit of the Rocky Mountains, 
ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, there are 
two springs near each other and nearly on a level. 
With little labor the water from one could be made 
to flow into the other. If we follow the stream that 
flows from the one lying to the east we pass for some 
distance through an almost level plain. The stream 
appears to have no positive tendency. It then 
descends the mountain, is joined by other streams, and 
finally passes into the gulf through the mouth of I he 
Mississippi. Let us now look at the other. The 
stream that flows westerly passes through an almost 
level country for some distance, then, descending the 
mountain, it passes out into the Pacific through the 
mouth of the Columbia. From the terminus of the 
one to that of the other is not less than five thousand 
miles, and between the two there stands a mountain 
range that towers ten thousand feet above them ! In 
their beginning they were neighbors, and during their 



THE DAYS OF OUR YOUTH. 



earlier progress the course of either might have bee^i 
turaed, yet how widely separated their destinies. 

Youth is pre-eminently the period in which we 
make far-reaching choices. We choose our business 
or profession. We form our intimate and lasting 
friendships. We choose our life relationships. We 
determine our guiding principles and place before 
ourselves the controlling purpose of life. It is the 
seed-time. What the after-harvest shall be is being 
determined now. It is the time in which we deter- 
mine eternal destiny. As the vision of life lies open 
to me, and I consider its different periods and its 
almost infinitely diversified possibilities, I am simply 
overpowered with a sense of the importance of the days 
of our youth. It is no time for trifling, for idle 
dreaming, for self-indulgence. It is enough to make 
one's very soul writhe in agony to see youth in the 
lawless riot of demented folly, wasting time and 
strength in the pursuit of poisoned pleasures, casting 
away the opportunities upon which glorious destinies 
turn. I speak earnestly because I am profoundly 
impressed with the importance of the message I bring 
you. I feel that here and now I am dealing with 
destinies. 

I wish you success — the largest and be&t possible 
to you. What I shall say in all these morning talks 
will be inspired by this desire. But, before taking 
my seat, I wish to indicate, in a few sentences, some 
of the conditions of real success. Purpose has much 
to do with it. Set it as the fixed purpose of your life 



20 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

to make the most and best of yourself. You may not 
gain applause, you may not accumulate wealth, you 
may not come into places of honor and power. Theso 
are matters of no moment. What you become is the 
great question. Cultivate an enthusiastic devotion to 
trulh. Reverence the real, and with holy scorn reject 
all shams. Be genuine. Cherish a modest yet 
courageous spirit of self-reliance. Do not shirk life's 
responsibilities. Keep sunshine in your soul. Be 
optimistic; high over all disorder and conflict, God is 
enthroned and events are unfolding toward harmony 
and light. Be covetous of time. It seems abundant 
to you now, but you have none to waste. Above all, 
learn the lesson of self-control. Be master of your- 
self, holding the rein over every passion and impulse 
and power. So may you have the highest success. 
And, if you give heed to the gospel call and follow 
divine guidance you may find the waters of life, the 
unfailing fountain of perpetual youth. 



The Companionship of Books, 



w 



EAR the old coat and buy the new book.— ^ws^in Phelps. 



A man's mind is known by the company it keeps.— /am€8 

Russell Lowell. 

Next to a friend's discourse, no morsel is more delicious 
than a ripe book ; a book whose flavor is as refreshing at the 
thousandth tasting as at the first.— J.. Bronson Alcott. 



A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse. A book is 
a party ; it is company, by the way ; it is counsellor ; it is a 
multitude of counsellors. A book is good company. It is full 
of conversation without loquacity. It comes to your longings 
with full instruction, but pursues you never. — Henry Ward 
Beecher. 

I conceive tliat books are like men's souls, divided into 
slieep and goats. Some few are going up, and carrying us up 
heavenward; ca'culated, I mean, to be of priceless advantage 
in teaching, in forwarding the teaching of all generations. 
Others, a frightful multitude, are going down, down ; doing 
ever the more and the wider and the wilder mischief. — Thomas 
Carlyle. 

As companions and acquaintances, books are without 
rivals, and they are companions and acquaintances to be had 
at all times and under all ci-Jcum stances. They are never out 
when you knock at the door, and never " not at home " when 

23 



24 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

you call. In the liglit( st as well as in the deepest moods they 
may be applied to, and will never be found v anting. In the 
good sense of the phrase, they are all things to all men, and 
are faithful alike to aW.—Juhn Alfred Langford. 

God be thanked for })ooks. They are the voices of the 
distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life 
of past ages. Books instruct the people. They give to all 
who will use them, the society, the spiritual presence of the best 
and greatest of our race. No matter how poor I am, no mat- 
ter though the prosperous of my ow^n time will not enter my 
obscure dwelling, if the sacred writers will enter and take up 
their abode under my roof, if Milton will cro^s my threshold 
to sing to me of Paradise, and Shakespeare to open to me the 
worlds of imagination and the workings of the human heart, 
and Franklin to enrich me with his practical wisdom, I shall 
not pine for want of intellectual companionship, and I may 
become a cultivated man though excluded from what is called 
the best society, in the place where I live. — William EUery 
Charming. 



THE COMPANIONSHIP OF BOOKS. 



WHEN you were at the World's Fair did you not 
feel some curiosity to know what impression 
the great city and the magnificent exposition were 
making on our visitors from the barbarous and semi- 
civilized parts of the world? The question came to 
my mind again and again, every day during my visit 
there. It seemed to me that it must have appeared 
to them as if they had fallen in with another order of 
beings on another planet. Everything must have 
been inexpressibly strange to them. In their native 
lands they had never seen such buildings, such facil- 
ities for transportation, such manifold provision for 
the convenience and comfort of e very-day life Can 
you imagine what must have been their amazement 
and bewilderment as they wandered through Machin- 
ery Hall, or through the Transportation Building, or 
through that mammoth building devoted to the Lib- 
eral Arts, or through that magnificent Palace of Fine 
Arts? We suppose they had sufficient intelligence to 
apprehend something of these worlds of wonders, and 

25 



26 TALKS TO YOUNO PEOPLE. 

to contrast the life to which these minister with the 
meager and primitive life of their own people. And 
it seems to me that the great city itself, with its teem- 
ing life and vast and varied traffic, must have been 
a greater wonder to them than the Exposition itself. 
What a contrast to their thatched huts must have been 
the great buildings towering twenty stories above 
them. How bewildering the rush and rattle of traffic. 
How inexplicable the intricate and manifold contriv- 
ances for the comfort of civilized life. 

But the most inexplicable thing of all, to those 
untutored children of nature, must have been the 
book shops and the public libraries of the city. A 
barbarian could hardly understand the value of a 
book. The hotels, the great stores, the courts of jus- 
tice, and even the churches, would not be so myste- 
rious to him as would a public library. Imagine a 
native of the South Sea Islands or a citizen of the Da- 
homey Village spending an entire day in a library. 
The action of the people who come and go would be a 
profound mystery to him. He could not understand 
the magic spell that seems to bold them in s lence for 
hours as they bend with intense interest over the 
pages of the books. He could not fail to notice the 
indications upon their countenances of the varying 
emotions taking place within. Should he make in- 
quiry as to the strange power possessed by books, I 
think the explanation would only deepen the mystery. 
He would be told that from one of these books we 
learn of the land from which he came, and of the 



THE COMPANIONSHIP OF BOOKS. 27 

manners and the customs of the people to whom he 
belongs. From another, we learn the experiences of 
the first white man that visited their shores, the man- 
ner in which he was received, and the condition in 
which he found the people. From another, we learn 
how to build ships and how to navigate them. In an- 
other book, we find embalmed words spoken by a man 
centuries ago. He would be told of the moulding 
power which books have over the lives of the people : 
how a certain book, falling into the hands of a boy, 
gave him a fondness for the sea and made him a great 
navigator ; how another boy, chancing to read the life 
of a great missionary, had kindled within him a flame 
of desire that sent him forth as a herald of good news 
to those who sat in darkness. Such explanations as 
those would but deepen the mystery. 

I think but few of us realize what a great thing 
it is to learn to read. It is something with which we 
have become so familiar, that we fail to recognize its 
great value. The difference between one who can 
read and one who can not, is almost as great as the 
difference between one who can see and one who can 
not. To know how to read is to possess the power of 
making all other minds tributary to ours. It opens a 
universe that lies hid from the eyes of those who have 
not acquired this art. It unseals the past, and makes 
its treasures of knowledge easily accessible. It en- 
ables us to know the best that has been thought 
by the best minds of all nations and at all times. 
It places us in communication with those who are 



28 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

seeking to load the race to higher planes of life. To 
learn how to read, adds infinite possibilities to any life. 
Carlyle has said that in books lies the soul of the 
whole past times ; the articulate, audible voice of the 
]iast, when the body and material substance of it has 
altogether vanished like a dream. Mighty fleets and 
armies, harbors and arsenals, vast cities, high-domed, 
many-engined— they are precious, great ; but what do 
they become ? Agamemnon, the many Agamemnones, 
Pericleses, and their Greece ; all is gone now to some 
ruined fragments, dumb, mournful wrecks and blocks; 
but the books of Greece ! There Greece, to every 
thinker, still very literally lives ; can be called up 
again into life. All that mankind has done, thought, 
gained, or been, is lying in magic preservation in the 
pages of books. To know how to read is to possess 
the key to all this. 

Has it ever occurred to you to ask what it is to 
read? Have you ever inquired into the relations ex- 
isting between an intelligent reader of a book and the 
author of that book? Books are not impersonal 
things. It matters not how impersonal the subject 
may be, how separate it may seem from the life of the 
man who wrote the book, something of the personality 
of the author appears on the printed pages. You 
know that Dr. Johnson, in his dictionary, has given 
expression to his feelings toward the Scotch, even in 
his definition of oatSy which he describes as "A grain 
which in England is generally given to horses, but in 
Scotland supports the people. ' Professor Porter calls 



THE COMPANIONSHIP OF BOOKS. 29 



attention to the fact that the private opinions of Noah 
Webster look out very plainly through the judicial 
gravity with which he lays down the law concerning 
scores of words ; as, for example, he defines Dandy 
thus : " In modetn uses, a male of the human species 
who dresses himself like a doll, and who carries his 
character on his back.^* Now a dictionary seems to 
be farthest removed from any aspect of human per- 
sonality, yet these eminent lexicographers have left 
very clear mark of their personal feelings even in dic- 
tionaries. What may we not therefore expect in the 
writings of dramatists and novelists and poets and 
essayists and even historians. The man is always in 
the book, and to read a book is simply to consult the 
man. 

Not until we come to understand this personal 
element that attaches itself to books, are we prepared 
for an intelligent use of them. We must lose some- 
thing of the superstitious reverence we had for the 
printed page in our childhood. A book is entitled to 
no more consideration than rightly belongs to the 
spoken words of its author. The mere act of printing 
does not add value to the thought, and yet some per- 
sons will spend hours in reading what they would not 
have thought worthy their time and attention had it 
been spoken. Let us remember that there are books 
and books, just as there are men and men. A friend 
of mine, in order that he might always associate the 
book with the author, placed small portraits of authors 
on the glass doors of his book cases immediately in 



30 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

front of the books they had written. It is this asso- 
ciation of the personality of the author with his books 
that lies at the basis of our delightful companionship 
with books. One's library thus becomes a Council 
of Learned Friends, and the council is always in 
open session waiting to be consulted on any subject. 
Nor can we have such liberty in any other council as 
we have in this. We can call on any friend at any 
time, and when we have hoard him, we can shut him 
up without fear of wounding his feelings. 

This conception of books and their uses has a very 
practical bearing also upon our selection of books. 
We should choose only those that will be helpful to us. 
We should read what is suited to our present state of 
knowledge and progress, just as we would choose our 
friends according to our age and our social grade. As 
it is impossible for us to be personally acquainted with 
every member of the great human family, and to have 
each as a personal friend, so is it impossible for us to 
have a personal acquaintance with all the books that 
are in the world. We must discriminate and choose 
in both cases. A book suited to us at one stage of 
our growth may not be helpful at another. But we 
should attach to this word helpful quite a broad 
meaning. It would be a mistake to include within it 
simply books of information and didactic instruction. 
AVhatever will stir noble purposes, whatever will 
strengthen generous impulses, whatever will lead us to 
abhor evil and love righteousness, whatever will 
strengthen our faith in God and goodness, whatever 



THE COMPANIONSHIP OF BOOKS. 31 

will make ns Hopeful and courageous, may be classed 
under this head. We read for other things than 
simply to learn, just as we have helpful iutercourse 
with friends without receiving any important informa- 
tion. 

When we come to regard books as companions, it 
will teach us to be wise in rejecting certain classes of 
books, just as we would reject certain classes of per- 
sons, and refuse to receive them into our circle of per- 
sonal friends. We should no more think of adding a 
worthless book to our reading list, than we would of 
adding a worthless person to our friendship list ; and 
there is a good deal of rubbish both among men and 
books. We should avoid whatever corrupts the im- 
agination, deadens conscience, gives false ideas of life, 
or excites emotion without lifting us to a better plane 
of living. To corrupt the imagination is to corrupt 
the very fountain of life, since the imagination is the 
architect of life. An evil thought fastened in the mind, 
will fester like a poisoned arrow, and souls may 
die of blood poison. Whatever deadens conscience, 
destroys moral safeguards. To read books that 
give attractive colors to crime, that call vice eupho- 
nious names, that familiarize us with the seductions 
of sin, that take tenderness and sensitiveness from 
conscience, is to open the citadel of Man-soul to 
the hordes of evil. Whatever gives false ideas of 
life must result in a false ideal of life. It is on this 
ground that many works of fiction are to be avoided. 
Others are to be avoided because they excite without 



32 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



lifting us to a higher plane. To read for intoxication 
is, in some cases, not a whit better than to drink fur 
intoxication. 

What, then, should we read ? There are no ten 
commandments on this subject. To undertake to pre- 
scribe a course of reading, without knowing the person 
who is to take it, is somewhat as if a physician should 
write a prescription on general principles, without 
first having examined the patient. It is safe to sug- 
gest, however, that we should begin with what is 
congenial ; that we should not select at any one time 
a long course ; that we should select books that are 
not only helpful in some sense, but helpful in a high 
sense ; that we should always be guided in our read- 
ing by a purpose. The fault with most of us is, we 
read without purpose. Emerson's three well-known 
rules are worth repeating : 1. Never read any book 
that is not one year old. 2. Never read any but 
famed books. 3. Never read any but what you like. 
Thoreau's rule, " Read not the Times ; read the Eterni- 
ties," though somewhat bombastic, is brief, easily 
remembered, and contains important suggestion to 
those who are always looking for the latest issue of 
the press. There are books of the day, and there are 
books of all time. There are books that contain the 
very life-blood of master spirits, and we need to make 
ourselves familiar with some of these if we would 
grow. After all, the real value of any book is tested 
by its servicableness to the reader. 



THE COMPAXIOXSHIP OF BOOKS. 33 

But let us come to details, and consider some of 
the different classes of literature. What about news- 
papers and periodicals ? Should we read them? Yes ; 
but with discrimination. The newspaper is one of 
the characteristics of our times, and its recent growth 
is a marvel. There are those present who can remem- 
ber when one weekly newspaper was regarded as quite 
sufficient even in well-to-do families, but now, not to 
have a daily or two, is to be out of the world. We 
must read the history of yesterday before we go to the 
work of to-day. But the danger is this : many of our 
newspapers have become open sewers through which 
flow all kinds of scandal and moral filth. It is posi- 
tively sickening to read even the headlines in some 
of them. From every quarter of the globe, from all 
ranks and conditions of society, diligent search seems 
to have been made to ferret out the most abominable 
things, and then to display them in the most attractive 
way. Many newspapers are nothing but scandal-mon- 
gers, and I take it for granted that you do not r* ad 
them. But, even in the best, there is need of dis- 
crimination. You can afford to skip a great deal. 

Magazines belong to a higher grade. They are not 
so much concerned with the trivial incidents of the 
day, but discuss its current events with larger out- 
look. In this busy age they seem to be a necessity. 
They give us a bird's-eye view of things, summary 
statements, current thought. They deal more with the 
meaning of the movements of our times. Many 
articles which a generation ago would have appeared 



34 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

in pamphlet form, now find their way to tlie public 
through the pages of the magazine. It seems to me 
it would be a good thing to suggest to some persons 
that they give less attention to the gossip of newspa- 
pers, and a little more to the better class of magazines. 
Biography has a peculiar fascinaiion for thoughl- 
ful young people. This comes, first of all, from tlie 
interest they naturally feel in men and women who 
have made their mark in the world. Ambitious souls 
instinctively long to know those who have risen above 
the common level. They feel, in a vague way, that 
they have a certain kind of fellowship with them. 
Then, too, the story of the way in which success has 
been won is always a fascinating story to tliose who 
mean to make a success of life. They are stirred l-y 
the story of self-made men, and become courageous 
and hopeful. They feel that what has been done may 
be done again. But well written b'ographies carry a 
larger meaning, because they give an outlook upon the 
times in which the persons live. A few years ago I 
bad the pleasure of listening to a series of biograph- 
ical lectures by Dr. Jo!ni Lord, and I was especially 
impressed with this outlook given through the lives 
of great men. Each man stood as the representative 
of a certain force working in human history, and be- 
came a type of his time. In the portrait drawn of 
him, the period in which he lived formed the back- 
ground. These lectures, and many others like them 
from the same source, were subsequently published in 
book form, under the general title of ^'Beacon Lights 



THE COMPANIONSHIP OF BOOKS. 35 

of Historj." If you have not already seen thtm, I 
feel that I do you good service in calling your atten- 
tion to them. In addition to the insight we may gain 
into the past times, through means of biography, I 
would also mention that biography gives insight into 
the greatest variety of subjects. No biography is 
well written unless it gives us glimpses into the field 
in which the person became celebrated. If he were 
an explorer, we accompany him on his explorations, 
and see things through his searching eye. If he were 
a scientist, we go with him into the fields, or descend 
with him into the earth, or gaze with him into the 
skies, or enter the laboratory with him and witness his 
efforts to break the seal and disclose nature's hidden 
mysteries. If he were a statesman, we are brought 
face to face with the political problems of his times. 
If he were a general, we march under his command, 
we are admitted to his councils of war, we witness 
the clash of arms in the terrible day of battle. If 
he were a reformer, we are permitted to share in his 
struggle against injustice and indifference, against con- 
secrated error and conservatism cowardice, until he 
succeeds at last in rousing and rallying the moral sen- 
timent of his people, and establishes right on the ruins 
of wrong. If he were a missionary, like Judson or 
Carey, or Morrison, or Livingston, we enter with him 
into the midst of strange scenes and witness the trans- 
formation of ignorant heathen into enlightened and 
rejoicing Christians. What vast and varied fields are 
opened to us through biographical literature. 



36 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

Next to biography I would mention history, as 
they are intimately related. It is impossible to under- 
stand our own times, without some knowledge of 
history. The present flows out of the past. He who 
gives exclusive attention to the present, hoping thus 
to understand it, is like one seated upon the bank of a 
river, undertaking to gain a knowledge of the river 
by looking simply at what passes before him. He 
might look for a life-time, and yet not understand the 
river. He should ascend it and discover its source. 
So if we would understand our own time we need to 
understand former times. Many social theories now 
earnestly advocated, would be abandoned after sucli 
research, and much pessimism would be cured. Al- 
though we are compelled t ) admit that things are not 
yet perfect, a knowledge of the past gives us the com- 
forting assurance that they are improving. There is 
no better place to begin the study of history than just 
where we are, in our own times, and then push back. 
It is not wise to begin with ancient monarchies; we 
find it dry reading. But to begin with our own coun- 
try, and our own times, is to begin where we already 
have an interest. A very good outlook, to begin with, 
may be had through such a work as McCarthy's 
" History of Our Own Times," or Mackenzie's ^' Nine- 
teenth Century.^' 

Books of travel possess a peculiar interest. If well 
written, they embrace the greatest variety of subjects. 
They give glimpses into the history of the countries 
visited, an insight into the manners and customs of 



THE COMPANIONSHIP OF BOOKS. 



the people, and a general view of their surroundings. 
Through the aid of the photographer's art, we are 
enabled to see things as they are, so that it is now pos- 
sible for a person to remain at home and yet become a 
well-traveled person. Every country under heaven 
may now be visited and fully inspected at almost no 
expense, by means of well-written and abundantly 
illustrated accounts of those who have visited them. 
We may become acquainted all around the globe. 
Abundant reading of such literature make one cos- 
mopolitan. 

I wish to call your attention to the wisdom of 
having a good supply of well selected religious read- 
ing. I do not do this because I happen to be a 
minister, but because there are no greater subjects 
within the range of human thinking than those lying 
within the realm of religion. You have heard how 
Webster said that the greatest thought that ever en- 
tered his mind was the thought of his personal relation 
to God. Then, too, there are no deeper needs than 
those religion deals with. We all have wants essen- 
tially different from any belonging to any living 
creature about us. There is a soul-hunger that no 
earthly food can satisfy. We have longings that 
stretch their hands upward and forward toward God 
and eternity. These are instincts. They belong to 
our highest nature. Shall we ignore them by ignoring 
the literature that deals with them ? 

There is no habit so fruitful of good as the read- 
ing habit. It enriches our mind, enlarges our views, 



TALZS TO YOUXG PEOPLE. 



aud is a wholesome tonic in daily life. It brings us 
iuto most intimate fellowship with the wisest and best. 
It acquaints us with the past. It takes the place of 
travel. It is an inspiration in youth, a guide in mid- 
dle life, a comfort in age. ^^ But/' some one says, *^ I 
have no time for reading.'^ Then, take time. There 
is no better use you can make of a part of your time 
than to devote it to reading. Save the odd moments. 
An interesting book, within easy reach, may soon be 
read without loss of time from work. Elihu Burritt 
became a linguist and a well-read man while working 
at the anvil. Another frankly confesses, ^' I have no 
taste for reading.'^ Then, acquire it. You have ac- 
quired other tastes, why not this? Select something 
that is interesting, suited to your mental caliber, and 
read it. After you have read a few books you will 
find that you are developing a taste for reading. Then 
elevate and improve it. Nothing will give you better 
returns for your pains. Probably not a few of you 
would say, " I am not able to purchase books.'' Then, 
borrow them. Almost every town has a public libra- 
ry. Patronize that. Do n't ignore your Sunday-school 
library ; it may not be a model library, but it certainly 
has some good books. But it may be that you do not 
know how cheap books are. I purchased a new cloth- 
bound volume of Emerson's essays a few days ago for 
ten cents. Many of the best books may now be had 
for a mere trifle. But do not be in haste to accumu- 
late a large library. It is much wiser to let that grow 
with your growth, and be accumulated through years. 



THE COMPA^'tONStlIP OF BOOKS. 39 

It is wise, however, to make a beginning now. I shall 
never forget my first library shelf. It was one solitary 
shelf of my own make, and I had about a dozen 
books to place upon it, but to my eyes there was never 
a more interesting collection of books. It was the 
beginning of my library, and each year has witnessed 
its growth. There is one book, however, you are 
able to own, and that is the most important book 
in all the world. When Walter Scott lay dying he 
asked Lock hart to bring him the book. His voice 
was faint. "What book?" said Lockhart. "There 
is but one Book," said Scott, "and that is the Bble.^^ 



The Problem of Temptation 



"EEP away from the Qre.— Sterne. 



Better shun the bait than struggle in the snare — Dryden. 



Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory. — 
Faber. 

Every temptation is an opportunity of our getting nearer 
to God. — /. Q. Adams. 

To realize God's presence is the one sovereign remedy 
against temptation. — Fenelon. 



Learn to say "No"; it will be more use to you than to 
learn to read Latin. — Spurgeon. 



Every bird has its decoy, and every man is led and misled 
in his own peculiar way. — Goethe. 



Find out what your temptations are, and you will find out 
largely what you yourself are. — Beecher. 



He who has no mind to trade with the devil, should be so 
wise as to keep away from his shop. — South. 



Do not give dalliance too much the rein; the strongest 
oaths are straw to the fire in the blood. — Shakespeare. 



43 



44 TALKS TO YOUXO PEOPLE. 

Temptation in the line of duty God has provided for ; but 
for temptation sought and coveted, God has no provision. — 
G. E. Bees. 

A vacant mind invites inmates, as a deserted mansion 
tempts wandering outcasts to take up their abode in its deso- 
late apartmeniB.—HiUiard. 

To pray aga'nst temptations, and yet to rush into occasions, 
is to thrust your fingers into the fire, and then pray that they 
might not be burnt. — Seeker. 



No one can ask honestly or hope fully to be delivered 
from temptation unless he has himself honestly and firmly de- 
termined to do the best he can to keep out of it. — Ruskin. 



To attempt to resist temptation, to abandon our bad hab- 
its, and to control our dominant passions in our own unaided 
strength, is like attempting to check by a spider's thread the 
progress of a ship borne along before tide and wind. — Waugh. 



Temptation is a fearful word. It indicates the beginnins; 
of a possible series of infinite evils. It is the ringing of an 
alarm bell, whose melancholy sounds may reverberate through 
eternity. Like the sudden, sharp cr}^ of "Fire!" under our 
windows by night, it should rouse us to instantaneous action, 
and brace every muscle to its highest tension. — Horace Mann. 



THE PROBLEM OF TEMPTATION, 



T THINK it was a Frenchman that is reputed to 
-■- have made the boast that there was but one 
thing in all the world he could not withstand. When 
we consider that human life, from infancy to age, is a 
continuous conflict, and that man's foes are almost in- 
numerable, it sounds like a remarkable claim for any 
man to say that there is only one thing he can not 
withstand. We need not wonder, therefore, that the 
admiring friends of this Frenchman asked him to 
name that one thing. He promptly replied that the 
only thing he could not withstand was temptation! 
That one thing is certainly a very comprehensive thing. 
It includes all our foes in the moral realm, where all 
our real conflicts are had. The Frenchman's boast 
becomes a confession of moral weakness and defeat, 
for although he may have had the courage that be- 
longs to the beast, he was utterly lacking in that that 
belongs to manhood. 

The problem of temptation is the universal prob- 
lem. Every human life must develop itself in the 

45 



46 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

face of unfriendly and opposing influences. Some ot 
these are subtle as miasma in the air, but some are 
fierce as the rush of the cyclone. Every bosom is a 
battle field where eternal issues are decided. We are 
all exposed to danger and attack, and the way in which 
we avoid the danger and repulse the attack deter- 
mines the issue of each life. We must meet temptation, 
and we must make up our minds to fight. Not to 
fight is to lose all. We are not to expose ourselves 
needlessly to the foe in order to show our courage, for 
that will be sufficiently tested in resisting the attacks 
he makes upon us. We are cautioned against needless 
exposure. We are taught to pray against being led 
into temptation. Presumption is perilous. At the siege 
of Namur, while the battle was raging and William 
of Orange was giving orders under a shower of bul- 
lets, he was surprised and angered to see Michael God- 
frey, the De])uty Governor of the Bank of England, 
among his staff of officers. It seems he had come 
to the king's h* adquarters (m business, and that his 
curiosity to see real war had brought him to this 
perilous point. " Godfrey," exclaimed William, " you 
ought not to run these hazards. You are not a soldier; 
you can be of no use to us here." " But,^' answered 
Godfrey, " I run no more risk than your Majesty.'* 
" Not so,'' said William, ''lam where it is my duty 
to be, and I may without presumption commit my 

life to God's keeping; but you " Before the 

sentence was fini-hed, Macaulay tells us, a cannon ball 
laid Godfrey dt ad at ihe king's feet. The king's words 



THE PROBLEM OF TEMPTATION. 47 

were true. Ouly the call of duty justifies us in facing 
peril, but when duty calls us into such a place A\e 
may commit our keeping unto Gud. 

Tlie entire Bible, but especially the New Testa- 
ment, abounds in warning and exhortation to watchful- 
ness. It is a book that runs on the assumption that we 
are in moral peril. Carelessness, heedlessness and fal'-e 
security, — against these it constantly warns. It exhorts 
to prayerfulness and watchfulness. Such warnings 
as these were frequently uttered by Jesus; "Watch 
and pray, lest ye enter into temptation " ; " Take ye 
heed, watch and pray " ; " Watch ye therefore, and 
pray ye always.'' In that prayer he taught his dis- 
ciples to make he placed the petition, " Lead us not 
into temptation, but deliver us from evil,'' because he 
knew the danger to which they would be exposed and 
would teach them to guard against the attacks of the 
evil one. Ilis hand was often on the bell-rope to ring 
out thrilling notes of warning. Turn, for instance, to 
the close of the thirteenth chapter of Mark, and in the 
last five verses you will find this word " wa<^ch " at 
least four times. Three times does he give the bell- 
cord a pull and then closes his solemn caution with 
the sharp stroke on the alarm bell, " What I say unto 
you I say unto all, Watch. " 

It seems probable that the figure in the mind of 
Jesus, was a military one. We can almost see the 
castle in which the troops are placed. But they are 
not to trust to the strength of its walls or its various 
defenses. The sentinel must be placed on guard, wiih 



48 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

clear and constant outlook in every direction. Or he 
may have thought of an army marching through aa 
enemy's country. In that case, there seems greater 
need of caution. The advance guard, forming the 
picket line, is constantly watchful, and gives signal of 
the first appearance of a foe. The safety of the entire 
army may depend upon the watchfulness of the ad- 
vance guards. In like manner, as we are marching 
through an enemy's country, where there is danger of 
sudden and fierce attack at any hour, our safety de- 
pends upon our watchfulness. It is my purpose to 
indicate in this morning's talk, how we are to deal 
with the problems of temptation. 

1. In the first place, there is need of forethought. 
If you have ever been out at sea, you have noticed 
that the watch is placed, not at the stern, but at the 
bow of the ship. He looks forward. It is his duty 
to announce the appearance of every object that 
comes within the range of his vision. The real 
place for conscience is at the bow, though too often 
we place it at the stern. It was meant to have a 
forward look, to anticipate the approach of danger, 
and to avoid it. It can do but little good to shriek 
in hopeless sorrow at the stern after the damage 
has been done. Even repentance that has not a 
forward look is of little worth. Some one has said 
that it is much easier to repent of sins we have 
committed, than of those we intend to commit, and 
I think our own experience prompts us to say that 
this testimony is true. 



THE PROBLEM OF TEMPTATION. 49 

The old saying that fore-warned is fore-armed, is 
not always true. We may not give heed to the warn- 
ing. Peter was fore-warned, but does not appear to 
have been fore-armed. He was so self-confident, he 
was so certain that he would never forsake the Mas- 
ter that it was impossible to induce him to seriously 
consider the approaching danger. He felt brave and 
self-sufficient. Had he given heed to the words of 
the Master he might have been saved that awful expe- 
rience of overwhelming sorrow. Yet his experience 
has been repeated in innumerable cases by those who 
have read the story of his fall. They would not be 
fore-warned. They have gone heedlessly on until 
they were in the toils of Satan. They ignored the 
experience of others and have gone on to " see the 
world ^' for themselves, as the phrase goes. 

I think there are few more damagingly dangerous 
delusions than is this one, called, " seeing the world.'' 
There is a story told, in the life of one of the old 
saints, in which it is said that the devil found a young 
man at the theater and took charge of him, and that 
the saint rebuked him, saying, " Why do you take one 
of the Lord's children ?'' and the devil said, " What 
business has one of the Lord's children on my 
grounds ?" I think there are persons who even tempt 
the devil in their subterranean explorations of life. 
A young man, for instance, goes into a large city and 
starts on one of these tours with the purpose, as he 
says, of seeing the world. He is not willing to con- 
tinue the verdant youth that he is, but will see life for 



60 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

himself, and so he goes prowling about through all 
kinds of moral filtli. His curiosity, granting that no 
worse motive prompts him, leads him into danger. 
He may not be so verdant after such a tour, and I am 
sure he will not be as clean. What would you think 
of a man who would go to see the offal of hospitals 
and dissecting-rooms, who would go wallowing in rot- 
tenness and the off-scourings of filth, under the 
pretext that he wished to increase his knowledge ? 
What would you think of a man who would go crawl- 
ing through the sewers under the streets, because of a 
curiosity to see what goes through the sewers? I 
think that he would endanger his health and add but 
little to his stock of desirable knowledge. So I think 
that many persons are blind to their best interests and 
have no forethought as to their danger who frequent 
doubtful places and dens of depravity that they may 
know the world. There are some things you would 
be better off without knowing. 

We need to have fore-thought concerning the 
things, the times and places, where evil will be most 
likely stirred within us. As one descends Niagara 
above the Falls, he passes a point beyond which it is 
impossible for him to turn and rescue himself Beyond 
that point he is hurried on by the wild rush of water 
until he plunges over the cataract. So it is with us. 
Passion may be so stirred that it is impossible to turn. 
Conscience is silenced, reason blinded, the will par- 
alyzed, when passion is thoroughly aroused. As well 
expect to drop a spark into powder and then take care 



THE PROBLEM OE TEMPTATIOX. 51 

of the powder, as to thoroughly arouse passion and 
expect to be safe. Our only safety is in fore-thought, 
in avoiding whatever would awaken evil passion. 
The same is true of other forms of temptation. The 
chief danger with some persons is through pride, 
through selfishness, through ignol)le ambition. They 
are cold and calculating. Their temptations steal 
upon them in the form of avarice, greed, injustice, in- 
humanity. Their love of money is too much for the 
nobler elements that should dominate their character. 
Others are tempted through their own temper. They 
sin with their tongues. But, whatever -may be the 
nature of our weakness, we need fore-thought that 
wo may avoid the things which endanger us. This is 
my first suggestion. 

2. I suggest, in the next place, that we need to 
guard our weak points with special care. If a 
fortress were strong on three sides, but weak on 
the remaining side, the simplest dictate of pru- 
dence and common sense would be to guard the 
weak side with special care. Here, for instance, is 
a stronghold, on one side of which is a precipice 
hundreds ot feet high, and all around are steep 
rocks that no one can scale. The fortress seems 
absolutely impregnable. But there is one little nar- 
row path that winds up from behind, and that is 
without defense, and the enemy, taking advantage 
of tliis, succeeds in capturing the stronghold. That 
point reached by the ])ath should have been guarded 
with special care. 



52 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

The application is easy. However strong we may 
be, we all have weak j)oi!its. Some of these have come 
to us as an inheritance, I iit otliers have been devel- 
oped through habit. We are largely what our ancestors 
were. Many of us resemble our parents more in our 
gifts and our tendencies than we do in form and fea- 
ture. I find in myself mental and moral likeness to 
my father and my mother ; and I suppose you do to 
yours. It would be strange if we did not find that we 
have some of their weaknesses. But heredity is not 
the only source. By our own habits many of our 
weaknesses have been caused. One may not inherit, 
for instance, a taste for strong drink, but through the 
drink habit he may develop an ungovernable thirst. 
One may not have inherited avarice, but through an 
intense devotion to business he may develop an inor- 
dinate love of money. One may give way to the 
flashes of temper until he becomes a tyrant. Weak- 
nesses may be developed ; but, whether developed or 
inherited, we all have them. I know we are loth to 
confess the fact, but I think our safety depends, in no 
small degree, upon its practical recognition. 

It seems that our spiritual enemy depends upon 
strategy ; that he knows our weak points and plans his 
attack, both as to method and as to time, so as to 
smite us in our most vulnerable points and at our 
weakest hours. Have you never noticed how tempta- 
tions differ: that what is a strong temptation for one 
may be no temptation for another, and that what was 
a strong temptation for you at one time, may be 



THE PROBLEM OF TEMPTATION. 



almost no temptation at another? Our enemy seems 
to know this, and to act upon this knowledge, and it 
would be wisdom upon our part to recognize it. It 
may have much to do with our safety. In the early 
settlement of this country, when the red man yet 
roved through these forests and over these plains, 
our fathers became familiar with their method of war- 
fare and planned their own defense accordingly. They 
guarded not only the weak points of approach, but 
they were specially watchful at those hours when the 
Indians were most likely to make an attack. These 
attacks were most usually made about three or four 
o'clock in the night, and that was the hour these 
.sturdy pioneers were specially watchful. We would 
do well to imitate their prudence, to study the tactics 
of our enemy, and plan our defense accordingly. 

The trouble with us is, we so delight in our strong 
points that we overlook our weak ones. It is too 
humiliating to confess, even to ourselves, that in some 
things we are very weak, and are easily overcome. 
We willingly blind ourselves to our defects, and thus 
are often blinded to our dangers. It is so mu3h more 
pleasant to consider the things in which we excel, the 
elements in which we are strong and the things in 
which we are victorious, that we hide, even from our 
own view, our vulnerable points. It thus often comes 
to pass that we give most attention to the points least 
needing attention. Take that man who has no temp- 
tation for strong drink, and he is likely to pride 
himself on the fact that he is a total abstainer, and to 



54 TALKS TO YOUNG FEOPLE. 



have little sympathy for the man who has fallen easy 
prey to the demon of drink. But that same man, 
strong and safe at this point, may have some other 
weakness even worse. He may cherish malice. All 
tnanner of malign feelings may find a welcome in his 
heart. He may be the slave of avarice. Look at that 
born spendthrift, in whose hand money seems as live 
coals. He prides himself that he is not a miser, that 
he is free from avarice, that he spends his money 
liberally. He prides himself on his generosity; that 
is his strong point. But he has nothing to say, even 
to himself, about his weak points. He may be the 
slave of appetite, of carnal passion, of degrading lust. 
There is another man, with a tongue so slow that he 
rarely speaks andVith a temper so phlegmatic that it is 
rarely ruffled, and he finds his favorite text in the open- 
ing of the thirty-ninth Psalm : " I said, I will take heed 
to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue ; I will 
keep my mouth with a bridle." He places the guard 
at the wrong point, for he is in little danger of hasty 
speech. That resolution is in order where the temper 
is quick and the tongue swift to speak. The mistake 
of these persons is the same as that of the general 
who places his guard at the strong point, and leaves 
the weak one unprotected. The enemy has little 
trouble in capturing forts guarded in this way. 

Nor is it safe for us to ignore the fact that there 
come to us liours of special weakness. Even Samson 
was not always strong. In the lives of the most emi- 
nent saints, we find great variations in their moral 



THE PROBLEM OF TEMPTATION. 55 

strength, and it is impossible to find in all the bio- 
graphical sketches in the Holy Scriptures, even one 
who was not sometime overtaken in fault. Noah, the 
preacher of righteousness, became intoxicated. Abra- 
ham, the father of the faithful, was guilty of prevari- 
cation, and his illustrious son Isaac followed his 
example. Moses, the proverbially meek man, seems 
to have assumed undue honor to himself, and was not 
permitted to enter the promised land. David, the 
great king and psalmist, fell into grievous sin. These 
were all good men, moral giants in their day, but they 
had their weak hours. Not one of that first band of 
disciples who followed Jesus seemed more courageous 
than Peter, but there came to him an hour of coward- 
ice when he denied his Master with a bitter oath. It 
was when Esau was weary and faint and hungry that 
he bartered his birthright for a mess of pottage. 
That was his weak hour. Satan knows when to make 
his attacks. In the story of the temptation of Jesus 
we have a disclosure of his strategy in timing each 
temptation to the natural impulse of the hour. It 
was not until after the forty days' fast, when Jesus was 
an hungered, that Satan suggests that stones be turned 
into bread to satisfy this hunger. It was not until he 
had led Him to the lofty pinnacle of the temple and 
had caused Him to look from its dizzy height, that he 
suggested that it would be safe for Him and a demon- 
stration to the multitude, if He would cast Himself 
down. In some way, we know not how, all the king- 
doms of this world and the glory of them were passed 



56 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

in review, before the suggestion was raade that for one 
solitary act of homage all these might be His, Each 
temptation was well timed. Satan was skillfully seek- 
ing the weakest points at the weakest hours. But in 
this case, this solitary case, he failed, and Jesus stands 
as the one absolute victor over the skill and the 
power of the evil one. 

3. We should avoid the beginnings of evil. The 
way of sin is something like a toboggan slide; we 
start slowly and timidly, but advance with increasing 
force and velocity. If we do not mean to go to the 
bottom, the best time to stop is just before we begin. 
To start in the way of sin with the expectation of 
stopping when we have proceeded about halfway down 
its course, is like jumping half way down Niagara. 
Several years ago, a physician in Ohio was hanged for 
murder. I have forgotten the details of the story of 
his crime, but its outlines are clearly marked in my 
memory. I remember that his first step was a very 
slight misstep, having in its appearance not the faint- 
est suggestion of the crime to which it ultimately led. 
But having made this misstep, he felt under the 
necessity of concealing it, and so he did something 
just a little worse. By and by, he must needs do 
something else to prevent the disclosure of what had 
already been done ; and so the story ran to its terrible 
end. Each step seemed to necessitate an additional step, 
each deed called for the covering of a darker deed. He 
seemed hurried on by necessity, as if under the power 
of an evil spirit, until at last he stood on the gallows. 



THE PROBLEM OF TEMPTATIOX. 



It is the same old story. Lies are linked. A sin- 
ful course is like a chain of which only the first link 
is visible, but when we take hold of that link we find 
it joined to another, and then another, and then an- 
other, — and who has ever found the natural end of 
that chain ? When Jacob entered upon his course of 
deception he found that his first lie called for another, 
and that for another, and that for another, and that 
for another. As Mrs. Browning says, he *^ paid the 
price of lies, by being constrained to lie on still.'^ 
Peter's first denial opened the way for the second, and 
that for the third. Once denied; thrice denied. 
Such is the normal course of sin. 

The tempter skillfully conceals the end of the 
course when he invites us to enter upon it. The 
young man taking his first glass of s*trong drink, does 
not dream that he will ever be a drunkard. The clerk 
misappropriating the funds of his employer, never ex- 
pects to be branded a thief or wear prison stripes. 
That young man taking his first lesson in card play- 
ing, in the social circle, does not for a moment think 
of the future developments to which it may lead. I 
recall a peculiarly sad case. It is that of an intimate 
personal friend during my college days. He was of 
excellent family, possessed fine natural gifts, and ther^ 
opened before him most flattering prospects. Much 
of my social visiting in those days was in company 
with him, and at one place where we visited quite 
frequently, cards were brought in for social amuse- 
ment. I have always regarded it as fortunate that 



58 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

through my mother's pronounced aversion to cards, I 
am able to say, even to this day, that I do not know 
one card from another. This was my standing excuse 
when asked to join the social game. But this young 
man of whom I speak, not only took his first lessons 
in that home, but became quite proficient there. 
Years passed by and he came to a position of respon- 
sibility in the business world. After awhile several 
thousand dollars disappeared in a mysterious way, and 
detectives were employed to solve the mystery. They 
traced the bonds until the guilt was fastened upon my 
old friend. Everybody was shocked. Thus came 
the disclosure of the course, step by step, beginning 
back in that social circle and leading up to this crime. 

Concerning doubtful amusements it is safest to 
give yourselves the benefit of the doubt. Avoid the 
beginnings of evil. Fire is easiest quenched when it 
first appears. The stream is easiest turned near its 
source. Sin is easiest strangled at its birth. Yea, it 
is better if we cast out the thought of which sin is 
born. The exhortation of the wise man is still a wise 
exhortation, — ^' Keep thy heart with all diligence, for 
out of it are the issues of life." 

4. To be fully occupied with worthy aims is one 
of our surest moral safeguards. Idleness is a great 
curse. I know that we are accustomed to refer to the 
sentence pronounced on our first parents, at the time 
of their expulsion from the garden, as a curse, but 
the necessity of labor proves itself to be one of our 
greatest blessings. The devil seldom tempts busy 



THE PROBLEM OF TEMPTATION. 59 

people. As you glance through the pages of the Bible 
I think you will find, as a rule, that God calls busy 
people and Satan solicits idle people. There is an old 
proverb that says, "An idle brain is the deviPs work- 
shop." The expression may not be elegant, but it is 
true. An empty house by its emptiness invites a ten- 
ant. In one of the parables of Jesus, you will 
remember that he tells of an evil spirit that had been 
cast out, returning again to his former habitation, and 
finding it empty, took seven other spirits more wicked 
than himself and entered in, and the last state of that 
man was worse than the first. The emptiness was an 
invitation to the evil spirits. But had that empty 
house been occupied, had some strong man had full 
possession, then would it have been safe. This para- 
ble gives us one of our most important principles in 
spiritual warfare. I think that to Napoleon is given 
the credit of the military maxim, " Conquer by sup- 
T^lanting,^' but that maxim lies latent in this parable. 
It goes even further, and teaches us that we are to 
hold by preempting. If we would cast out the dark- 
ness, we bring in the light, and if we would prevent 
the incoming of darkness we retain the light. To 
sow a field with good seed is one of the best ways of 
preventing a crop of weeds. 

You may remember that near the end of king 
David's life, his son Adonijah, brother of Absalom, 
aspired to the throne. For this purpose he seemed to 
have laid his plans well, securing the support of the 
other princes, of Abiathar the priest, and of Joab, the 



60 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

famous commander of David's army. When the time 
seemed ripe for open demonstration, he prepared a 
feast for his principal followers at a spring south of 
Jerusalem, called En-rogel. It was their purpose to 
proclaim him king, and then to lead a popular demon- 
stration in his favor. But Solomon had been chosen 
as the successor of his father David, probably by 
divine direction. What must be done? Shall an 
armed force be raised to prevent this usurpation on the 
part of Adonijah ? This would have i)een one way, 
but the record tells of a much wiser course. The 
conspiracy of Adonijah was made known to David, 
and he directed that Solomon be placed on the royal 
mule and that a solemn procession be made to Gilion, 
a spring just west of Jerusalem, and that Solomon be 
officially proclaimed king. Adonijah was to be pre- 
vented by this formal preemption of the throne. 
The programme was carried out. Zadok the priest, 
and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Je- 
hoiada led the procession. The trumpeters blew the 
trumpets, and all the people said, God save king 
Solomon. It was a great demonstration, and Adoni- 
jah and all that were with him heard the sound of the 
shoutings, and wondered what it could mean. Soon a 
messenger comes in great haste to En-rogel, and Adon- 
ijah makes anxious inquiry. No sooner is the story 
told, than the followers of Adonijah begin to slink 
away, and he is left alone. He, fearing the conse- 
quences, flees to the temple and lays hold of the 
horns of the altar, nor would he leave that sanctuary 



THE PROBLEM OF TEMPTATION. 61 

until his safety was assured by the ])romise from Solo- 
mon. This bit of history illustrates the principle I 
am seeking to enforce : that is, we best prevent the 
usurpation of evil by the enthronement of good. If 
we would prevent Adonijah we should crown Solo- 
mon. This principle should play an important part 
in our lives. 

5. A sense of God's presence is another safeguard 
against temptation. Let us recall the story of the 
lives of two young men of singular purity and stead- 
fastness, — Joseph and Daniel. They were both 
subjected to a series of temptations of unusual power, 
yet they both came forth without the stain of sin. I 
can scarcely think it possible for an aspiring boy to 
pass through more terrible ordeals than did Joseph. 
When but seventen years of age he was kidnaped and 
sold into slavery by his own brothers. As a slave in 
the house of Potiphar he was subjected to great temp- 
tation, but his answer was, " How can I do this great 
wickedness of sin against God?" A sense of the 
divine presence brought him through the fiery fur- 
nace without so much as the smell of fire on his 
garments. Like Joseph, Daniel was carried into ex- 
ile, and like Joseph he gained the favor of his 
guardian and was trained for the king\s service. 
Away from the influences of his own land, and in the 
midst of the corruption and idolatry of a royal court, 
he stood steadfast in his integrity. For fear of defile- 
ment he resolved to abstain from the king's meat, 
though by this course he made himself an object of 



62 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

derision. He was a young man of uncompromising 
spirit, yet well-mannered and courteous. He was a 
young man of lofty courage and sublime moral hero- 
ism. The seductions of society in Babylon could not 
turn him from the path of purity, nor could the ter- 
ror of the king's threat and the lion's den shake his 
steadfast devotion to the God of his fathers. He had 
just the courage every young man needs, and the 
source of his courage was his sense of the divine pres- 
ence. Hewas a young man of prayer, and they who 
bow before God may dare to stand unmoved before 
the threats of men. 

This sense of the divine presence may be cultivated. 
I have a little tract, of peculiar interest, entitled, " The 
Practice of the Presence of God the Best Rule of a Ho- 
ly Life; Being Conversations and Letters of Brother 
Lawrence.'' Rather a long title for a tract. It seems 
that he lived in the seventeenth century, and was re- 
garded by those who knew him as a man of unusual 
purity and spiritual power. His conversion took 
place when he was about eighteen years olJ, but no 
wilderness wanderings seemed to have intervened be- 
tween the Red Sea and the Jordan of his experience. 
He died at the age of eighty, leaving a name Avliicli 
the has been fragrant as ointment. It seems that 
secret of his life consisted in his persistent effort 
to do all things and suffer all things as in the imme- 
diate and conscious presence of God. This sense of 
the divine presence grew upon him, and gave a pecu- 
liar nobility to h's character, and loftiness to all his 



THE PROBLEM OF TEMPTATION. 63 

purposes. Nothing was so real to him as God. It is 
a great gain to any soul when God becomes real to 
that soul, and the secret of all godly living is the con- 
scious fellowship of our souls with God. He is our 
refuge and our fortress, a very present help in every 
time of trouble. 

There are times in our experience, when the only 
thing we can do is to cast ourselves entirely upon 
Him. We read of travelers whose route across the 
higher Alps leads them along perilous paths, no 
broader than a mule's foothold, skirting dizzy preci- 
pices, from which the foaming river below appears as 
a silver thread. They may come to places where the 
safest thing they can do is to take their hands from 
the bridle, fold their arms and close their eyes. And 
there are times when to be saved from falling, we 
must take our hands from the guiding reins, fold our 
arms, close our eyes and commit ourselves to God. 
He will bring us through all our perils in safety. 
Whatever may be said of the weakness of human 
nature unhelped, there is no need for even the weakest 
to despair. We have a divine Helper who has passed 
through the thickest of the strife unharmed, and he 
is able to succor all them who are tempted. Even 
the weakest may pass, by his help, through the sorest 
strife. The victorious song sung by the redeemed 
hosts in heaven, ascribes their victory to the Lamb. 

I can not close this talk without a word to those 
who have suffered defeat. No doubt there are many 
here who feel that the battle has gone against them, 



64 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

and there are some on the verge of giving up the 
struggle. In one of the decisive battles of the world, 
near the close of the day, when defeat seemed almost 
certain, the courageous general rallied his faltering 
forces with the assurance that time enough yet re- 
mained to turn the tide of battle, and change a 
temporary defeat into a glorious victory. And it was 
so. So it may be with you. There is time enough 
yet for victory ; your temporary defeat may be changed 
and your life become a glorious one. Through strug- 
gle we come into the fullness of our strength. The 
Indians siy thnt when a warrior kills a foe the spirit 
of the vanquished enters the victor's heart and adds 
to his own stn ngth. This is certainly true in our 
spiritual warfare. We grow stronger through our 
struggles and victories. And when the war is over, 
and the time of triumphal entrance into the city of 
our God shall come, it seems to me that our scars and 
our tattered banners shall be our greatest glory. 



Making the Most of One's Self, 



I ET every raan take heed how he buildeth. — Paul. 

Every one is the son of his own works. — Cervantes. 



^ Human improvement is from within outwards.— ^n^/ion?/ 
Froude. 

We measure great men by their character, not by their 
success. — Nepos. 

The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.— 
George Eliot. 

Too low they build who build beneath the stars. — Young^s 
Night Thoughts. 

Choose always the way that seems the best, however 
rough it may he.— Pythagoras. 



Nature never stands still, nor souls neither; they ever go 
up or go down. — Julia C. P. Darr. 



What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the 

small man seeks s in others. — Confucius- 
See that thou make all things according to the pit tern 

that was shewed thee in the mount. —Heb. viii. 5. 

C7 



TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



Many men bui'd as cathedrals were built, the part 
nearest the ground finished ; but that part which soars toward 
hpaven, the turrets and the spires, forever incomplete. — 
Henry Ward Beecher. 

It seems to me to be one of the main characteristics of 
human beings, not that they are actually much, but that they 
are something of which much may be made. There are 
untold potentalities in human nature. — The Country Parson. 



Every man has at times in his mind the Ideal of what he 
should be, but is not. This ideal may be high and complete, 
or it may be quite low and insignificant ; yet in all men that 
seek to improve, it is better than the actual character. — Theo- 
dore Parker. 

From the same material one man builds palaces, another 
hovels; one warehouses, another villas; bricks and mortar 
are mortar and bricks until the architect makes them some- 
thing else. Thus it is that, in the same family, in the same 
circumstances, one man rears a stately edifice, while his 
brother, vacillating and incompetent, lives forever amid 
ruins. — Thomas Carlyle. 

Did you ever watch a sculptor slowly fashioning a human 
countenance ? It is not moulded at once. It is not struck out 
at a single blow. A thousand blows rough cast it. Ten thou- 
sand chisels polish and perfect it, put in the fine touches, and 
bring out the features and expression. It is a work of time ; 
but at last the full likeness comcs out, and stands fixed and 
unchanging in the solid marble. So does a man carve out 
his own moral likeness. Every day he adds something to the 
work. A thousand acts of thought and will and eflfort shape 
the features and expressions of the soul, till at length it wears 
the likeness of God, or the image of a demon.— Oxenden. 



MAKING THE MOST OF ONE'S SELF. 



SOMEWHERE in my reading, I have read of an 
idolater who, having felled a tree, considered 
whether he would make it into a god or into a three- 
legged stool. The incident suggests a wide range of 
possibility. Shall he make it into a stool on which to 
sit, or into a sacred image before which he would wor- 
ship ? Which shall it be ? But wide as was the range 
that the idolater considered, it was not equal to that 
which we are each called to consider in planning life. 
What shall I make out of myself? That is life's great 
question. AU other questions should be made subor- 
dinate and tributary to it. It is not what I shall do, 
but rather what shall I be? We all begin life as mys- 
terious packages of possibilities. We enter life in 
germinal form, as seeds or bulbs. Our chief duty is 
to make the most and best out of ourselves. 

Seeds are marvelous things. That little hard, 
brown seed, not larger than a buck-shot, which you 
took and placed in the soil in the early summer, had 
hidden in it mysteries beyond anything a magician 

69 



70 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

ever dreamed of. Within it was a vital germ which 
no human skill could create, or even restore when 
once destroyed. It carried within itself a hidden 
pattern which no microscopic search and no analysis 
could detect. Out from that vital germ, and accord- 
ing to that hidden pattern, it has slowly unfolded 
itself until a luxuriant vine, hung thick with flowers, 
shields your window from the morning sun. Who 
could have told, by previous examination, what that 
seed would make of itself? Last winter I buried 
some unsightly bulbs in my front yard. They had 
neither form nor comeliness, and there was no beauty 
in their appearance tbat we should desire them. But 
they were bundles of marvelous possibilities. Buried 
within them were the germs of a beautiful life. Some- 
where within them was hidden the pattern of the 
beautiful foliage and flowers of the Canna. What 
they have become seems vastly different from what 
they were. 

Who can tell what an infant, a human bulb, may 
become? "What manner of child shall this be?" 
said the kindred and neighbors of Zacharias and 
Elizabeth, when they came to attend the circumcision 
and naming of their son, whose birth had been at- 
tended by so many miraculous manifestations. But 
thoughtful persons may well repeat their question, 
with fresh solicitude over every cradle. Within the 
child there may slumber the elements of a radical 
reformer, who may call with clarion voice an apos- 
tate people back to God, or there may slumber the 



Making the most of one's self, 71 

elements of one who shall become a corrupter of the 
people. That child may develop into a Herod or a 
John, into a Nero or a Paul. 

The range of possibility in human life is much 
larger than in any form of life below it. The plant 
may be of luxuriant or of stunted growth, according 
to the conditions under which it grows. In the val- 
ley, before you begin to ascend the mountains, you 
may notice certain plants of large proportion, but as 
you ascend the mountain side, you observe that the 
plant is not so luxuriant, and before you reach the 
summit you find that its growth has been so stunted 
that life seems to have almost perished. In the trop- 
ics there are plants to which it seems a joy to grow. 
They fairly leap and laugh into life. But as you 
journey toward the north, where the summers are 
shorter and the winters are longer, life becomes a 
struggle. It is stunted. It may be the same plant 
under the cold skies of the north that it was under 
the warm skies of the south, but how different its de- 
velopment. It has not been able to make so much 
out of itself. So of bird and beast. Their develop- 
ment is conditioned by environment and food. Their 
life may be abundant or meager; they may be 
well favored and flourish, or their circumstances 
may be so unfavorable that life is stunted ; they can 
not come to much. But whatever the circumstances, 
they have also a tether within themselves that limits 
I heir range. They may be more or less ; they can not 
become different. Not so with us. We may become 



72 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

not simply more or less ; we may also become differ- 
ent. Our highest life belongs to a higher realm than 
theirs. Our noblest development is in the moral 
realm, where character is formed, and there we have 
almost a limitless range. 

This large possibility of development lies at the 
basis of the Bible estimate of man. We are not much, 
but may become almost infinitely much. Measured 
by human standards, a large part of our race must be 
classed as worthless ; but the Bible knows nothing of 
worthless people. According to it, each soul, how- 
ever humble, is of almost infinite worth. And why? 
Because in each there lie latent vast possibilities. 
Each soul is a seed, and who can tell how much there 
is in a seed which requires an eternal summer for its 
growth. A gentleman returning from his summer 
vacation abroad brought with him two packages. In 
one was a diamond ; in the other there were seeds. In 
mid-ocean, as he was leaning over the side of the ship, 
he amused himself by tossing these packages as he 
had seen jugglers toss balls. But he was not skillful, 
and they fell into the sea and were lost. Concerning 
the diamond, he could tell exactly what was lost ; 
concerning the seed he could not. The diamond 
would always be a diamond, but who can tell what 
the seeds might have become ? Through the golden 
harvests of many summers, increasing in geometrical 
ratio, these seeds might have continued with indefinite 
increase, until a continent could not accommodate 
them. We are seeds, and as God looks upon us, with 



MAKING THE MOST OF ONE'S SELF. 73 

an eternity before us for growth, he places a value 
upon us by anticipating what we may be. The Bible 
is a disclosure of the highest human possibility, and 
its call to each one of us, is to make the most possible 
out of ourselves, through divine grace and guidance. 

1. Lying at the very root of possible moral devel- 
opment is the perilous power of choice. There is a 
self-determining power within us. It is the will. 
Standing in a large railway depot, have you never 
observed that' trains passing out over the same track 
arrive at diflFeront destinations ? What determines the 
difference ? Were you to examine the track, you 
would discover, soon after leaving the depot, that an 
iron tongue lies on the inside of the rail. It was the 
turning of that small piece of iron that changed the 
course of the entire train. So within us there lies 
that which determines our course. We choose ; and 
the making of a choice is the turning of the switch. 

You have heard of the fabled choice of Hercules. 
According to the mythical story of his life, while yet 
a youth, he is represented as musing in a solitary place 
over his future life. While thus engaged, two female 
figures are seen to approach. One, arrayed in white, 
of open, noble countenance ; the other, with painted 
face, and wanton attire, with a bold, forward air. As 
they drew near, the latter hastens forward and greets 
him with familiarity, saying : ^'O Hercules, I see 
that you are in great perplexity about your future 
course in life. If you will follow me, you shall have 
a smooth and charming road. You need not burden 



H TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE, 

your mind with business, or battles, or work of any 
kind. Your entire study hereafter shall be, where to 
find the best wines and the most tempting dishes, the 
sweetest odors and the most becoming clothes, the 
happiest companions and the merriest amusements. 
Nor need you take any trouble as to the means neces- 
sary to support this style of life, for certain friends 
and familiars of mine shall see to it that you are liber- 
ally provided for in this direction." "And pray, 
madam,^' asked Hercules, " what might be your 
name?" " My real name is Pleasure, but certain of 
my enemies have nicknamed me Vice." Then in a 
quiet, serious, modest way spoke the other : " Her- 
cules, I knew your parents; I have noted and 
observed your ways from boyhood, and I am sure you 
are capable of noble deeds ; but I must not delude 
you with false promises. As the gods have arranged 
the worlds, you can hope for nothing good or desir- 
able without work. If you would number the gods 
among your friends, you must serve them ; if you 
would be loved by those about you, you must make 
yourself useful ; if you want your field to be fruitful 
you must till it ; if you want to be honored by all 
Greece, you must render it some brave and illus- 
trious service; if you wish to be a great warrior, you 
must take lessons from some great soldier : you must 
bring the body under subjection, and must in every- 
thing submit to wise discipline." It was a frank, 
straightforward statement, concealing nothing from 
his eager, earnest spirit, but it won the heart of 



MAKIXG THE MOST OF ONFJS SELF. 15 

Hercules. Choosing to follow Virtue lie arose at once 
and pursued the path of duty and honor, and became 
the renowned liberator of Greece. The entire course 
of Hercules was determined by the choice he made 
that day. 

We are familiar with the brave choice of Moses. 
He was born at a time when a series of seeming mis- 
fortunes had reduced his people to most abject slavery. 
By the cunning of his mother he was saved from the 
cruel edict of Pharaoh, and by the mysterious work- 
ings of a gracious Providence, he found his home in 
the royal palace. He became, by adoption, the son 
of Pharaoh's daughter and the heir prospective to the 
throne. He grew to manhood in the midst of the 
most splendid and luxurious court of his times. But 
there came to him the time to make a choice as to his 
future. He had found that the blood of the oppressed 
coursed through his veins, but to identify himself 
with them was not only to abandon his present fortu- 
nate surroundings, but to turn his back upon all 
prospects of rising to the Egyptian throne. Wlmt 
Moses is to become depends upon the choice he 
makes. The simple narrative that has come down to 
us contains the record of his sublime choice, when, 
refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 
he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of 
God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; 
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
the treasures in Egypt : for he had respect unto the 
recompense of the reward. Brave and noble choice! 



76 TALKS TO YOVSG PEOPLE. 

All that Moses became in after years was in that 
choice, even as the plant lies enwrapped in the seed. 
It may not be that any who hear me will ever be 
called to make a choice - fraught with such conse- 
quences, because we may never be called to so great a 
mission : but every one will be called to make a life- 
determiniug choice. We can not go far on our journey 
until we come to a place where the road divides. At 
that point, we must decide which way we will go. 
And it is in youth that we make our important 
choices: we choose our life purpose, our life calling, 
our life companions. It is in youth that most per- 
sons, who become Christians, choose Christ. I think 
I am safe in saying that at least ninety- five per cent, 
become Christians before they are twenty-five years 
of age. No other choice can so affect character and 
destiny as the choice we make concerning Christ. 

The development of our life depends largely upon 
its environments. Environment has become a great 
word in modern scientific literature. It has been 
clearly shown by recent research that environment 
has a modifying influence over every form of life. 
Change of environment has been shown to work great 
change in the development of life. This becomes 
more manifest as we rise from the simpler to the more 
complex forms of life. The complex forms seem to 
be touched by environment at a greater number of 
points. Since, as we have already observed, plant-life 
and animal life are influenced by environment, we 
may reasonably expect to find that human life is 



MAKING THE MOST OF ONES SELF. 77 

influenced by it to even a greater degree. I speak 
not now of this bodily life, but rather of that inner 
life which distinguishes us from all mere brute crea- 
tion. With us, there is a life within a life, and this 
inner life is the important one. It is this that belongs 
to the moral realm. Within this are the springs of 
action, the fountains of conduct. All that makes life 
noble belongs primarily to the life within. There 
character grows. When I speak of environment as 
aflfecting the development of our moral life, I would 
have you think of those things that directly aflPect 
this inner life. 

What are some of these ? They certainly include 
all our intimate associations. We are necessarily a 
part of all that we have seen. It is impossible for us 
to come into contact with anything without being in- 
fluenced, in some measure, by it. But nothing so 
influences us as our intimate companions. We breathe 
their spirit, we partake of their thoughts, we uncon- 
sciously imitate them. If they rise, they lift us; if 
they descend, they lower us. If they advance slowly, 
it impedes our progress ; if they move rapidly, it 
accelerates our movement. In the choice of our 
companions we should, as a rule, choose those who are 
in advance of us. There is an old proverb that says, 
'' He that walketh with wise men shall be wise ; but a 
companion of fools shall be destroyed.'' Our reading 
may also be reckoned as forming a part of our inner 
environments. Through books we gather about us 
the thoughts of other minds. In reading we hold 



TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



communion with other spirits. The thoughts which 
have stirred them, the purposes which they have cher- 
ished, the sentiments which have been nourished in 
their own souls, all touch us by means of the printed 
page. A good book is the precious life-blood of a 
master spirit. In the best books great men speak to 
us, giving us their most precious thoughts and pouring 
their souls into ours. What men become is often 
determined by the books they read. " The reading of 
one good book," said Franklin, "aroused me and 
made me what I am.'* It is said that the reading of 
Young's Night Thoughts by Garfield, while he was 
yet a youth, had a moulding influence over his entire 
subsequent life. We can not be too careful, therefore, 
as to the books we read. Even our amusements are 
to be reckoned as a part of the environment that 
affects our inner life. If they are tainted with evil, 
thoy endanger our moral health, but if they are pure 
and elevating, their influence is wholesome. There is 
an influence at play upon us all the while from the 
work also in which we are engaged. But I can 
not enumerate all the things which may be classed 
under the general head of environments. I shall not 
attempt it. Speaking broadly, I may say that anything 
and everything that acts upon the inner life forms a 
part of our moral environment. 

There is another and more important phase of this 
matter yet to be noticed. The unseen life within is 
capable of fellowship with the great unseen universe 
without. Things seen are temporal; things unseen 



MAKING THE MOST OF ONES SELF. 79 

are eternal. We belong both to the seen and the un- 
seen. Our most important environment is this 
environment of the unseen. The soul may be en- 
swathed of God. It may have fellowship with him and 
partake of his life. And without this divine fellow- 
ship it is impossible for us to make the most of 
ourselves. I would remind you that religion is not 
something imposed upon us in an arbitrary way j it is 
something we need for our normal and full develop- 
ment. We must have the larger vision of faith, we 
must breathe the atmosphere of spiritual worship, we 
must be brought into touch with the unseen, we must 
live in communion with God, or we can never come 
into the largest growth. To bring us to God, and thus 
to give us more abundant life, was the great purpose 
of the mission of Christ. It is a truth susceptible of 
scientific demonstration, that no one can make the 
most of himself without becoming a Christian. 

3. Let us next consider briefly the regnant power 
of an ideal. All intelligent work is according to an 
ideal. The potter forming the plastic clay on the 
wheel brings out of the formless mass figures of 
beauty. But these artistic forms were first f ^sliioned 
in his own mind. The builder, placing stone upon 
stone, follows the design of the architect, until there 
stands before us a poem in stone. Every stroke of 
labor was performed in obedience to the ideal that 
existed in the mind of the architect. Every artist 
has his ideal that determines his mixing of colors 
and every movement of his brush. He develops 



80 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

his skill that he may the better realize his ideal. 
That which appears upon the canvas existed first in 
his mind. 

So, also, do all , living, growing things develop 
themselves according to a hidden pattern. The growth 
of a seed is a marvelous process. The vital germ 
within contains both weaver and pattern, and every 
movement of the shuttle of life is according to that 
hidden pattern. The process of growth is one of the 
unexplained mysteries of nature. No scientific analy- 
sis has been able to detect the pattern by which each 
form of life unfolds itself, nor has the ingenuity of 
man been able to persuade any form of life to change 
its pattern. Each continues to work according to the 
pattern originally given it by the Designer of all 
things. 

In the higher realm of life the ideal continues to 
hold its place. It may be modified by circumstances, 
but it never ceases to be the guiding, moulding hand. 
The ideal of youth is the outline of the coming man. 
There can be no symmetrical unfolding of our higher 
life without an ideal, there can be no building of a 
well-formed character without a pattern. We must 
aim at something. We must definitely purpose to be 
somebody. One reason why so many fail in charac- 
ter-building, is to be found in the fact that they have 
undertaken to build without definite purpose or plan. 
They have not aimed to make anything particular out 
of themselves. They may not have been utterly aim- 
less, but their aim has been simply to make a living, 



MAKING THE MOST OF ONE'S SELF. 81 

not to make something of themselves. They may 
have chosen a calling or a profession, but it was solely 
with a view of securing the necessaries, and, if possi- 
ble, the luxuries of life. Their considerations have 
all been largely of a commercial character. The great 
purpose of life, — man-building, the development of 
the noblest possible character, the perfecting of all 
natural gifts, the enlargement and enrichment of their 
own nature, — all these have been ignored. They have 
cherished no great moral ideal. 

The important function performed by imagination, 
in the moulding of character, deserves special men- 
tion. I do not speak of imagination as a mere fancy 
or as the creator of fiction. I speak of it as the power 
by which we form definite conceptions of higher 
things than are to be found in our present attain- 
ments. It has also a prophetic element in it, for by 
means of it we apprehend that which is to be. The 
operations of the imagination, either for good or for 
evil, are constant and almost omnipotent. Reason and 
conscience combined are scarcely equal to it. I think 
if we could take our characters to pieces, as we may a 
watch, and examine all the hidden springs and influ- 
ences that have combined to make us what we are, we 
should probably be surprised to find how much the 
imagination has had to do in moulding us. The 
dreams of youth have had much to do with the reali- 
ties of later life. Great men, as a rule, have had 
great dreams in youth. Joseph was a dreamer, and 
in his dreams there were the outlines of his wonderful 



82 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

subsequent history. His older brothers, who probably 
prided themselves that they were practical men, in 
derision called him " the dreamer," But that dream- 
ing lad became the deliverer of his people. God 
bless the dreamers. The world owes more to them 
than to any others. Cherish noble dreams, my young 
friends ; let them be such as to awaken the noblest 
impulses of your nature and be worthy of the persist- 
ent effort of all your powers. Aim to be somebody ; 
to make the most possible out of yourselves. 

In seeking to make the most out of one's self, it 
seems to me that the power of choice, the iufluence of 
environment, and the uplifting and moulding force of 
an ideal are the chief things. Of course, there are 
many other influences at play, but they are all subordi- 
nate to these. If we choose wisely, if we throw 
about our inner life wholesome influences, and if we 
lift above us a noble ideal, we must grow into noble 
characters. 

We should see to it that these characters are also 
symmetrical. I have sometimes thought that, were it 
possible to make some material presentation of char- 
acter, some accurate, visible representation of it, we 
would be surprised to find how one-sided we are. We 
develop pet virtues. We cherish special graces. We 
are not well-balanced and symmetrical. A perfect 
character, it seems to me, may be described in the 
same terms in which we are accustomed to describe 
solid bodies ; that is, they have length, breadth and 
height. By its length, I do not refer to its duration, 



MAKING THE .)JOST OF ONE'S SELF. 83 

but rather to its forward push in self-development. 
By its breadth, I mean its out-reach literally. By its 
height, I mean its upward reach toward God. Our 
ambition may place before us, in the distant future, a 
shining mark toward which we shall project ourselves 
with all possible energy. We rush on toward that 
end as a lightning express train. We sweep over the 
plains and thread our way through mountain tunnels, 
thinking only of the end we have set before us. The 
fertile fields and rich mines, the villages and towns 
and cities along the way are nothing to us. A life 
developed in this way may show great energy and a 
wonderful brightening of gifts, but at best it is nar- 
row and selfish. It has length without breadth or 
height. Another develops laterally. He is full of 
tender sympathies, he flows out on every side with 
sweetness. He has no definite aim, no ambition, no 
special mission. He spreads out as a thin cloud over 
everything, but descends in refreshing rain nowhere. 
He lacks concentration. He has breadth without 
length or height. Another, a morbid saint, ignores 
the world and all worldly things, and shuts himself in, 
leaving only a small opening toward the heavens. He 
runs the line of his devotions straight up, as a light- 
ning rod, seeking spiritual electricity. He has height 
without length or breadth. Now what is needed is a 
proper combination of all these. Like the mystic 
city which John saw in vision, the length and the 
breadth and the height of it should be equal. 
It should have a far-reaching hope, a wide-spreading 



84 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

love and an uplifting faith. It should have a triple 
power working within it, giving it a forward push, a 
widening sweep, and a God-ward uplift. 

According to Paul, tlie permanent forces of our 
holy religion, working to the development of perfect 
character,, are faith and hope and charity, these three. 
It is possible that we may have become familiar with 
these words without noticing that they represent the 
permanent character-forming forces of the gospel, and 
that they are meant to work in most intimate cooper- 
ation. Faith, hope and love are not things in a book, 
but forces within us. Within us is the field of their 
operation. I think it is perfectly legitimate to say 
that it is hope that gives us the forward reach, that 
love gives us the widening sympathies, and that faith 
gives us the God-ward lift. Yet these three work 
together, producing a well- formed Christian character. 
The great hope set before us in the gospel is a hope, 
not of what we are to have, but of what we are to be. 
It surpasses all human thinking, all present revelation. 
" It doth not yet appear what we shall be,'' says John, 
" but we know that when Christ shall appear we shall 
be like him." A full revelation of what we may be- 
come will not be made until Christ, the perfect man, 
makes his appearance in glory. To make the most of 
ourselves, to attain unto the divine ideal of humanity, 
we must have the life of God within. Christ is the 
model. 



Marks of Christian Growth. 



TTLL growth that is not toward God is growing to decay. — 
f I Geo. Macdonald. 

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where 
we stand, as in what direction we are moving. — Oliver Wendell 
Ilulmes. 

The individual and the race are always moving ; and as 
we drift into new latitudes new lights open in the heavens 
more immediately over us. — E. H. Chapin. 



Life or religion are one. or neither is anything. Religion 
is no way of life, no shoiv of life, no observance of any sort. It is 
neither the food nor medicine of being ; it is life essential. — Geo. 
Macdonald. 

Christianity, as an idea, begins with thinking of God in 
the same way that a true son thinks of his father ; Christian- 
ity, as a life, begins with feeling and acting toward God as a 
true son feels and acts towards his father. — C. H. Parkhurst. 



We are not expected to be perfect at the beginning of our 
Christian career, nor yet in the second, nor the third, nor per- 
haps in any subsequent stage of it ; it will suffice fi we are 
moving forward, always in that direction— going on to, that is, 
towards perfection.—/. S. Lamar. 



Rehgion is not a method, it is a life, a higher and super- 
natural Hfe, mystical in its root and practical in its fruits ; a 



88 



TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



communion with God, a calm and deep enthusiasm, a love 
which radiates, a force which acts, a happiness which over- 
flows.—^mieZ ; Journal. Mrs. Humphrey Ward, Translator. 

Religion, in its purity, is not so much a pursuit as a 
temper; or rather it is a temper leading to the pursuit of all 
that IS high and holy. Its foundation is faith ; its action 
works ; Its temper, holiness ; its aim, obedience to God in im- 
provement of self and benevolence to men.— Tyron Edwards. 

The New Testament Scriptures everywhere contemplate 
spiritual life as a growth from small beginnings ; as involving 
necessarily the weakness of infancy, and the struggles of child- 
hood, ere we come to the ripeness of manhood. The child of 
God, when born of water and spirit, is but a babe. The faith 
and baptism that bring him into Christ but enable him to 
begin to live in " newness of life." And this life, like all other 
life, depends for its perpetuation and development on food 
air and exercise.— /saac Errett. ' 



We have all seen, I am sure, if it has been our privilege 
to watch true Christians growing old, the special and absorb- 
ing way w.ith which the personal Christ, their knowledge oi 
Him, and His knowledge of them, comes to be all of their re- 
ligion. Indeed, Christ, to the growing Christian, seems to be 
what the sun is to the developing day, which it lightens from 
the morning to the evening. When the sun is in the zenith 
of the broad noon-day, men do their various works by his 
light; but they do not look so often up to him. But as the 
world rolls into the evening, it is the sun itself at sunset that 
men gather to look at and admire and love. As the Christian 
life ripens into evening the soul dwells most on the Sun of 
Righteousness, the Lord mmseit— Phillips Brooks. 



MARKS OF CHRISTIAN GROWTH. 



CHRISTIAN charicter is not a gift; it is the result 
of normal growth. Nor is this growth simply 
enlargement ; it is characterized by change. There is 
" first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn 
in the ear.*^ Jesus did not say there is first the blade, 
then a larger blade, and then a very large blade ; but 
there is first the blade, then something different from 
the blade, and finally something different from that. 
John, the Apostle, indicates similar changes, when in 
his first epistle he writes to " little children," and to 
" young men," and to " fathers." He did not write 
to little children, and to larger children, and to very 
large children. In passing from childhood to age, 
we pass through periods of characteristic change. 
Paul said, " When I was a child, I spake as a child, I 
understood as a child, I thought as a child ; but when 
I became a man, I put away childish things." This 
was his natural, normal growth. There were certain 
things in childhood that passed away with passing 
years. There were features in his manhood not to be 



90 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

found in his childhood. S) should it be in our 
spiritual growth. 

There are those who pride themselves upon never 
clianging. They think to-day just as they thought 
twenty years ago. They speak to-day exactly as they 
did in the very beginning of their Christian life. 
They understand now just as they did then. If such 
a thing should occur in the lives of their children, 
they would regard it as a terrible misfortune. Their 
children would be idiots, since an idiot is one who 
continues to think, and speak, and act, after reaching 
years of maturity, just as he did in infancy. Many of 
the things which are charmingly beautiful in the child 
are deplorable in the man. As there are radical dif- 
ferences between childhood and manhood in the 
normal development of natural life, so should there 
be in the normal development of tlie Christian life. 
The babe in Christ is not exactly like the one who has 
come " Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the 
stature of the fullness of Christ." It is my purpose, 
therefore, this morning, to indicate some of the marks 
of our normal, spiritual growth; to point out some of 
the changes through which we pass. 

1. Doctrine is transmuted into life. It ceases to 
be dogma. The word by which we are quickened in 
the spiritual life, comes to us as a revelation from 
without. It is a message. It is something that we 
can hear and consider and understand. The gospel 
makes its primary appeal to our intelligence. It is a 
revelation of doctrine, but its doctrine is designed to 



MARKS OF CHRISTIAN GROWTH. 91 

fulfill a very practical purpose. It is milk for babes 
and meat for men. Yet there is danger of our treat- 
ing it as if it were meant to furnish material for 
philosophical speculation. Men go into the Bible and 
deal with its truths, as they would go into a forest and 
deal with its trees. God planted living truth and 
living trees, but men hew them into shape and build 
them into temples, according to their own designs. 
There is a striking similarity between house-building 
and creed-building. They are both framed and fash- 
ioned out of the material God has provided, it may be, 
but according to the plan in the mind of the builder. 
Much of the thought that has been expended on God's 
revelations, has been devoted to the purpose of formu- 
lating these into systems of doctrine; of adjusting 
truth to truth. The Bible, however, seems indiflPerent 
as to the relation one truth has to another truth, while 
it lays tremendous emphasis upon the relation that all 
truths sustain to human good. God is not solicitous 
concerning systems, but he is profoundly solicitous 
concerning souls. 

What would you think of a company of chemists, 
having been invited to a magnificent feast, if they 
should spend all their time in making a chemical anal- 
ysis of the food before them ? They carefully analyze 
each particular dish. They classify all the elements 
entering into the food so abundantly provided to meet 
their wants. They write learned and elaborate state- 
ments concerning the mutual relation existing between 
these various elements. They even go further : they 



92 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

consider the relation each element sustains to a particu- 
lar need of the human system. They show how this is 
well designed to build up that, and develop elaborate 
theories concerning food. They formulate systems. 
In the prosecution of their investigations, divergent 
views are developed and bitter controversies are en- 
gendered. In the meantime, they practically ignore 
the main purpose for which the feast was provided, 
and they starve. Proceedings almost as absurd as 
this are not uncommon concerning the Bible. It has 
been treated as if the divine purpose in giving it were 
to furnish material fur scientific analysis and classi- 
fication. Men have searched its pages for material 
out of which to manufacture creeds. God gave it to 
quicken and to nourish spiritual life. 

Do I then speak against intellectual belief, against 
doctrine ? Far from it. I believe in people who be- 
lieve something. I believe in those who believe in 
what they believe in. I have little sympathy with 
those whose intellectual conceptions of religious truth 
is beclouded and befogged, who seem to delight in 
uncertainty. I utterly repudiate the current saying 
that it matters not what one believes. As well say it 
matters not what one eats. The point is this : the 
mere intellectual consideration of truth, its analysis 
and discussion, its classification and formulation do 
not feed the soul. There must be a personal appro- 
priation of it. It must enter into our spiritual system, 
as food enters into the body, and be transmuted into 
life. Truth must become incarnate. Truth in a book 



MARKS OF CHRISTIAN GROWIH. 93 

never {^aves. It must be taken into the soul. It 
must be translated into life. The Christian becomes 
a living epistle of Christ, expressing in his spirit and 
daily conduct the mind of our Master. He has a relish 
for the divine Word, as one in vigorous health relishes 
wholesome food He has little taste for speculation. 
He avoids controversy. He shuns profane and vain 
babblings, knowing that they will increase unto more 
ungodliness. Speculative controversy is a mark of 
spiritual immaturity. It seems to me that many 
poiftts over which fierce debates have been waged, are 
wisely called bones of contention. They are bones; 
with but little meat on them. These contentions in- 
dicate a starved condition ; even dogs will not fight 
over bones if you give them an abundance of meat. 
The growing Christian abandons these bones, and 
builds himself up with the spiritual meat. He esti- 
mates all teaching according to its power to build up 
manhood after the image of Christ. This is one mark 
of growth. 

2. Duty is transfigured into privilege. All vol- 
untary beginnings are characterized by conscious 
eflfoTt. There is definite volition. Could you recall 
your experience in so simple a matter as learning to 
walk, you would find a good illustration of this. 
Each tottering step you took was the result of distinct 
volition. But as you learned to walk there was a de- 
crease of conscious effort, until you came into such a 
state of efficiency iu walking, that you did it ap- 
parently without thought. It seemed to do itself. 



94 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

Now you are able to walk down tlie street, threadiog 
your way through the crowds, while your miud is 
busy with other matters. Did you ever notice what 
conscious efiFort one makes in learning to play upon a 
musical instrument — the piano, for instance? Each 
movement is the result of conscious effort. The atti- 
tude on the piano stool, the position of the arms and 
hands, every movement of the fingers has behind it a 
distinct purpose. The mind says, Do this, and it is 
done. Then, Do that, and it is done. But how pain- 
fully self-consciaus and awkward the performance. 
After years of patient practice, however, the very 
finger tips seem to think, and quickly find their place 
upon the key-board. The player can now play with- 
out distinct volition for each movement. She has 
grown into liberty. 

A similar change takes place in the normal 
development of Christian living. In the beginning 
concience said to do this or that, and it was done. 
Conscience forbade this or that, and we refrained from 
the doing of it. Each step was a conscious effort. A 
sense of duty pervaded everything. But there came a 
time in our experience when right doing, and the re- 
fraining from wrong were not so much the result of a 
definite purpose as they were of a growing habit. We 
were learning to walk. In addition to this, there 
came also other inspirations as helpful factors in daily 
life. The sense of duty was clothed upon, even as the 
dry bones Ezekiel saw in his wonderful vision. You 
readily recall his vision of dry bones. They were 



MARKS OF CIIRISTIAX GROWTH. 95 

very many and very dry. He prophesied unto the 
winds, and the winds breathed upon them, and bone 
came to bone, and there stood up a mighty army of 
skeletons. He prophesied unto the winds, and flesh 
was woven upon these skeletons, and they were clothed 
with skin. Again he prophesied, and the winds 
breathed upon them and they were living men. A 
sense of duty is the skeleton, the frame work of right 
living. But this sense of duty may be so clothed 
upon, that it is lost to sight. When we look upon 
the form of a living person, we think not of the 
skeleton hid within, enabling that person to stand 
upright. So may duty be clothed, until we lose sight 
of the sense of duty. 

In the time of Jesus they ground their grain by 
turning the upper upon the nether millstone with 
their hands. " Two women shall be grinding at the 
mill,^' said Jesus, alluding to this custom. It was a 
laborious process. Then there came a time when they 
turned the flowing stream over the water-wheel, and 
harnessed the brook to the upper millstone, and thus 
they ground their grain. Then they uplifted the 
windmill, that they might catch the passing wind, 
and by that they turned the upper on the nether mill- 
stone and ground their grain. Then they imprisoned 
the stream with its palpitating energy, and it makes 
the whirling stone do its work with greater efficiency. 
We have not dispensed with the millstones, but we 
have brought new powers to bear upon them. So in 
our spiritual life, we do not dispense with duty, but 



96 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



other motives are brought to bear, enabling us to do 
it with greater ease. 

The best service in every department of life is 
rendered by motives other than the mere sense of 
duty. You may find an illustration in your own 
home. The nurse who cares for the babe, does this 
for pay. Having engaged to doit, it is her duty. 
She faithfully performs this duty. But the child 
sickens. It grows worse. The nurse is displaced, 
and the mother assumes entire care of the little suf- 
ferer. Day and night, through weeks and months, 
without rest, like a guardian angel she bends with 
loving service over that cradle. She is utterly forget- 
ful of self in her fight for the life of the child. By 
and bye there comes a change; the crisis has been 
passed. The child slowly returns to health. Suppose 
some one should suggest to the mother that she had 
faithfully performed her duty. How harsh the sound 
of that word " duty.^' She has not thought of duty. 
She has been moving on a higher plane. Duty with 
her was transfigured. Her self-sacrifice was a living 
sacrifice, but love was the priestess at the altar. 
That soldier boy who, seeing the colors fall, rushed 
into the thick of the fight and bore it to the front, had 
made no calculations as to duty. A whirlwind of 
patriotic impulse caught him up and bore him on to 
deeds of the noblest daring. So in our Christian life, 
we must rise from the low plain of Christian duty to 
the sunlit peaks of privilege. There must come into 
us such mighty power of holy gratitude, of filial love. 



MARKS OF CHRISTIAN GROWTH. 97 

of full-orbed hope, of all-seeing faith, of divine fellow- 
ship that we shall be enabled to say in very truth, 
that we take pleasure in reproaches, in persecutions, 
in toil and sacrifice with Christ. The great need to- 
day is the need of a mighty uplift that shall consecrate 
all our powers, and transfigure every duty. We need 
this mark of growth. 

3. Philanthropy is broadened and enriched. The 
mature Christian is an intense lover of men. This is 
but another way of saying that the mature Christian 
is like Christ. Anyone who professes to be a Christian 
and is not a philanthropist, is a hypocrite. We have 
the highest authority for saying that he who professes 
to love God, whom he has not seen, and yet hates his 
brother, whom he has seen, is a liar. We instinctively 
feel that the Samaritan who ministered to the man on 
the Jericho road was more truly religious than the 
Priest and the Levite who passed him by as they re- 
turned from the temple service. 

It seems to me that many persons have overlooked 
the plainest point in Christ^s description of the general 
judgment. You may find it in the twenty-fifth chap- 
ter of Matthew, beginning with the thirty-first verse. 
He represents all nations gathered before Him, as a 
mingled flock before a shepherd, and He separates 
them one from another as a shepherd divides between 
the sheep and the goats. One group He places upon 
His right ; the other upon His left. To the one He 
says, Come ; to the other. Depart. Those upon the left 
go away into everlasting punishment ; those upon the 



TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



right enter into life eternal. In the consideration of 
this passage almost exclusive attention has been given 
to the tternal rewards, while but little attention has 
been given to the principle by which the divid- 
ing line was run. It runs along the line of 
human sympathy. Those upon His right had fed 
the hungry, had given drink to the thirsty, had cared 
for the stranger, had furnished raiment for the naked, 
had cared for the sick, had visited the imprisoned. 
Those upon the left, had done none of these things. 
The one had been Christly ; the other had not. One 
lja<l been philanthropic; the other had not. Al-tng 
the line of human helpfulness, He makes the great 
division. Nor need we be surprised at this, if we 
have become acquainted with the master passion of 
His own life. He was a lover of men, and in the 
manifestation of His love he makes a disclosure of the 
divine philanthropy. One of the clearest indications, 
therefore, of the development of the divine life within 
us, must appear in our increasing phil intnropy. 

This philanthropy will manifest itself in minister- 
ing to every form of human need. It is intensely 
human. As we witness its working in Jesus we see 
that it had care for the bodies as well as for the souls 
of men. He was not a recluse. He did not hide 
himself from the world that he might spend his lite 
^n devout meditation and prayer. The season of 
prayer on the mountain top, when his fellowship 
with heaven was so intimate that its glory was mani- 
fest in his personal appearance, was followed by a 



3fARKS OF CHRISTIAN GROWTH. 99 

(lay of intense activity in ministering to the multitude 
in the valley. He healed the diseases of the people. 
He satisfied their hunger. He associated with pub- 
licans and sinners that he might quicken them into 
nobler living. His purpose was world-wide. He 
ignored the barriers which divide men into classes and 
separate them into tribes and races. He loved man 
as man ; he loved the whole of man. Nothing human 
was foreign to him. It was this intense devotion 
to the deep and varied needs of men, that made him 
the universal, but willing, burden- bearer. The pur- 
pose of his gospel is to beget a similar spirit in every- 
one of us. Paul gives a graphic description of the 
mind that was in Him, when he tells us the story of 
His humiliation, saying, *' That though he was in the 
form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal 
with God ; he made himself of no reputation, and took 
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the 
likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a 
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
death, even the death of the cross." A mature Chris- 
tian must be possessed by this same mind. The spirit 
of the cross must be continued in us. A divine 
philanthropy must become the passion of our lives. 

4. There is an increase of spiritual power. We 
have a dual nature. Like trees we stand with roots 
buried in the earth, but with branches spreading 
toward the sky. A part of us is of the earth, earthy ; 
a part of us is of the heavens, heavenly. In the writ- 
ings of the New Testament, and especially of those of 



100 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

Paul, there is clear aad frequent recognition of thii- 
two-fold nature. One is carnal, the other spiritual. 
The broad moral distinctions between men are deter- 
mined by the relative position of these two elements. 
Which is on the top, the lower nature or the higher? 
No one is so good but that in him there is some bad, 
and no one is so bad but that in him there is some 
good. No one is so spiritual as to be absolutely free 
from the carnal, no one is so carnal as to be entirely 
free from the spiritual. The gospel finds us with the 
carnal nature upon the throne. It aims to work a 
revolution ; to introduce a new reign. 

The change that takes place in the beginning of the 
Christian life is commonly called conversion. Conver- 
sion means a turning about. That describes the change 
as it appears from the outside. It is as if one were 
journeying along the way, then stops, turns him about, 
and proceeds in the opposite direction. He converts, 
or turns. Were we, however, to look up »n the 
change from within, we might find another word to 
describe the change more accurately. It is inversion. 
The gospel turns upside down. It quickens us 
spiritually, and enthrones the spiritual. It does not 
destroy the carnal. That which is born of the flesh is 
flesh, and remains nothing but flesh, until it returns 
to dust, its universal destiny. It has its uses and its 
place, but its normal position is that of absolute sub- 
jection to the spiritual. Christian growth is, there- 
fore, the increase of spiritual power. The dominion 
of the spiritual must become absolute. Every thought 



MARKS OF CHRISTIAN GROWTH. 101 

and imagiDation of the heart, every gift and power of 
our being, must be brought into captivity to Christ. 

It is difficult to describe the ways in which this 
spiritual regnancy manifests itself, yet we have little 
difficulty in recognizing it in actual life. It is 
difficult to describe the color and fragrance of a 
flower, yet there is no difficulty in recognizing them 
whenever we come into the presence of flowers. 
Spiritual character exhales a delightful perfume. 
About it, there seems to be a peculiar freedom. The 
law of Christ is written within ; not engraven on 
stones without. The spiritual person has been re- 
n(iwed in the very spirit of his mind. His desires, 
his purposes, his plans, are still dominated by the 
mind that was in Christ. There is a peculiar gentle- 
ness joined with wonderful strength. There is 
nothing of sickly sentimentality about him. He is 
magnificently manly. Let us be forever done with 
the idea that in order to become a saint one must be 
sickly, or that he must seclude himself from the world, 
assuming a monastic air. The Christian is meant to 
be in the world, though not of the world. He has 
been separated from the world by an inward power 
that has lifted him above the world. His spiritual 
nature is dominant. 

5. There is an increasing desire to know Christ. 
In his epistle to the Philippians, written when he was 
an old man, Paul expresses his passionate desire to 
know Christ, and the power of his resurrection. All 
other desires seem to have been swallowed up in this. 



102 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

But did he not already know Christ? Had not the 
glorified Jesus appeared to him on the plains oi 
Damascus many years before this? Had he not been 
preaching Jesus everywhere ? Does it not, therefore, 
appear strange that in his old age he should express a 
passionate desire to know Christ ? While at first this 
may appear strange, the experienced Christian easily 
understands it. The Christian creed is peculiarly 
personal. It is Christ. The increase in Christian 
knowledge, is an increase in the knowledge of the 
personal Christ, and there is something peculiar 
about our knowledge of persons. You ask me, for 
instance, whether I know a certain person, and I say 
I do. He chances to be a person whom I met a few 
moments ago, and to whom I was introduced. I know 
him in the sense that I know his name, and will pos- 
sibly be able to recall it the next time I meet him. 
You ask me if I know some other person, and I answer 
that I do. I have never seen that one, but I have read 
two or three of his books. In that sense, I know him. 
I know his thoughts. You mention the name of an 
artist, and ask if I know him. I do. I am famil'ar 
with his works. I know his peculiarities, as an artist, 
and can recognize his pictures in any gallery. But I 
have never seen h'm. You mention some other per- 
son, and ask if I know that one. I answer that I do, 
but there is something peculiar in my tone. You are 
surprised. You know that I have been a student 
under that man, that I have been personally associated 
with him, and yet there was a certain hesitancy in ray 



MARKS OF CliniSTJAN CliOWTH. 103 

tone. I '11 tell you why. There is something so 
deep, so broad, so rich, so full, so magnificent in that 
man, that I have not yet come to a full comprehenfeion 
of him. His purposes are so broad and far-reaching, 
his gifts are so varied and rich, his resources are so 
manifold, that he towers above me as a mountain. You 
can not know, by glancing on the surface of a moun- 
tain, of the treasures hidden within ; much less can you 
fully know such a man as this, by a casual acquaint- 
ance. < 
The most magnificent man of all the age?, is Jesus 
of Nazareth. He is pre-eminently the Divine Man. 
In him dwelt all the fullness of the God-head. All 
the ages center in him. He is the key to universal 
history. His purposes, sweeping out of an eternity 
past, span all time, and stretch without limit into 
eternity beyond. He is the center and substance of 
all revelation, yet he sweeps infinitely beyond all 
present revelation. He is the solution of all ques- 
tions. By him all things in heaven and upon earth 
are to be brought into harmony. Who can under- 
stand him, who know him with complete knowledge? 
How insignificant become almost all questions which 
have distracted and divided believers, when they 
come into the presence of him ? Paul had known 
many things. From his youth he had been carefully 
trained in the knowledge of the sacred writings of his 
people, and of the tradition of their fathers. He had 
been brought up in their leading theological seminary. 
He was familiar with the distinction made by learned 



101 7^17.7^-^8 TO YOUXG PEOPLE. 

Rabbis, and with their solution of difficult problems. 
lie was not unacquainted with the literature of other 
peoples. Above all this, there had been given him, 
by divine inspiration, such knowledge as men can not 
obtain by research. His mind has been illuminated 
by many visions. He had been caught up to the 
third heaven, and saw and heard in that marvelous 
experience, things he never dared to undertake to 
frame into human speech. Yet there was a thirst for 
knowledge, unquenched by all this. He longed to 
know Christ. So must there be with us an increasing 
desire to know Christ. In our normal development, 
we turn from the crude and imperfect philosophical 
creeds, to the personal and perfect Christ. We lose 
our interest in the strife over petty questions, because 
we are swallowed up by an increasing interest in the 
one great question, What think ye of Christ f 

These, then, in my judgment, are some of the 
characteristic marks of Christian growth : Doctrine is 
transmuted into life ; duty is transfigured into privil- 
edge ; philanthropy is broadened and enriched ; there 
is an increase of spiritual power ; there is an increas- 
ing desire to know Christ. As you look into your 
own experience, do you find that you are increasing in 
all these? 

In conclusion, let me give a few words of caution : 
1. Don't doubt your conversion because you can 
recall no radical experience at the beginning of your 
Christian life. Seeds grow silently. The kingdom 
of heaven does not come like a cyclone. 2. Do n't 



\ 



MARKS OF CfTRISTIAX GROWTH. 105 

look to your past for the golden age of your Chris- 
tian experience. If you are a growing Christian, the 
present exceeds the past, and the future should surpass 
the present. 3. Do n't despise your past. It may have 
been weak and imperfect, but the roots of the present 
are imbedded in it. Forget its imperfections and 
press toward the future. 4. Have sympathetic con- 
sideration for those who may not be so far advanced 
as you are. Babes need the sheltering, nourishing 
care of those of more mature years. 5. Do n't be dis- 
couraged because your present attainments fall below 
your ideal. We shall never attain to that ideal in 
this world. There are plants which require two 
seasons for their growth. They are called biennials. 
We are biennials. Our brief summer in this world 
is to be followed, after the winter of death, by the 
eternal summer of God. Only in that summer land 
may we hope to come to the fullness of our growth. 

But how shall we know when we have come 
" Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature 
of the fullness of Christ '' ? How may we know when 
a plant has reached it maturity ? That plant sprang 
from the seed ; that seed came from a flower. Not until 
the growing seed has developed a flower like that from 
which it sprang, can we say that it has come to its 
fullness, but when flower answers to flower, then has the 
mission of the seed found its fulfillment. The Word 
of God is the seed of the kingdom. It came forth 
from Christ, the divine flower of humanity. It is 
planted in human soil. It springs and grows, 



106 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE!' 

strnggliag against drouth, and hindering weeds, and 
chilling winds, until the time for transplanting comes. 
Then in the summer land of God it grows as it could 
not in this world, until flower answers to flower, and 
we are like Christ. Then will the holiest aspirations 
of renewed hearts be realized, for we shall be satisfied 
when we awake in his likeness. 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE. 



TtllS pledge is a magnificent instrument. It is the very 
^1^ heart of the Endeavor movement. It is that around 
"^ which all gathers. It gives the young people back- 
bone ; it makes their religion mean something. — Rev. R. V. 

Hunter. 

Our Christian Endeavor pledge is a public confession 
of Christ. It is equivalent to a renewal of our profession 
made at the beginning of our Christian life. This pledge 
connected with our organization is one of the sinews of its 
great strength. It has been objected to by some because it 
contains, as alleged, too strong declarations of loyalty to 
Christ, or at least too definite declarations of duty to be done 
for him. I believe in it, just because it contains these strong 
definitions of duty.— W. H. McMillen, D. D. 



That pledge is worth the closest study. If it is not in- 
spired by the Holy Ghost, it is one of the most remarkable of 
the inspired productions of the human intellect. It is thor- 
oughly spiritual. It is thoroughly loyal to the local church, 
and thoroughly loyal to God's Christ. It combines faith and 
works just as the Holy Scriptures do. It teaches that a Chris- 
tian life is one that works from the inner man to the outer. 
It is a manly pledge, because first given to God, and secondly, 
avoiding all puerile and impracticable details. The manhest 
man in all America can sign that pledge and become the 
better by the signing. — Dr. Charles F. Deems. 

109 



LIO TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. ~ ' 

Christian Endeavor is not chiefly a sentiment, nor is it 
chiefly an appeal ; it is a spirit — inspired resolution — not a 
quiescent, or a deferred, but an active resolution, clothed in 
an outspoken and definite pledge, based on the sovereignty of 
God and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a resolution 
that includes all time, all faculties, all acts. Not a resolution 
to overstep my sphere and undertake what others can do 
better, but to serve faithfully within my appointed sphere ; 
not a resolution to do some great thing, but a resolution to do 
whatsoever my hand finds to do, whether it be lowly or ex- 
alted, with my might and unto Christ.— Gtlby C. Kelly, D. D. 

What is this much-talked-of pledge, this ironclad pledge? 
It is no more than you take upon you when entering the 
Church. It is the life of the soc ety, and the strength of our 
Tlhristian character. We have had an experience ourselves 
in forming young people's societies. First, wth the name of 
Christian Endeav«r, and without its principles. Then with 
some of the principles, minus the pledge. But something 
was lacking always. Finally, in desperation, we said we will 
have the whole society — name, constitution, by-laws, pledge, 
and all, and many said, " You will kill your society ; it will 
surely die." But we felt like the old negro minister down 
South, who had to beg every Sunday for money. His people 
grew tired of it, and said : " If you keep on this way you will 
kill the church." He only replied: "Bredren, I '11 keep right 
on. Docs not the good book say, * Blessed am de dead who 
dies in de Lord ' ?" And we felt that the society would better 
die with the pledg-^, and be buried decently and in order, than 
to live without it and be a cripple. But it has lived, and the 
pledge is iis life. — /. Wilbur Chapman, D. D. "" 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE. 



TT is said that Emerson, in the later years of his life, 
-■- was wont to complain that he had spent his youth 
at a time when age was most highly esteemed, but 
that he was spending his age at a time when youth 
was most highly esteemed. Whether this was good 
ground for complaint or noi^^, I leave to your judg- 
ment. I refer to this saying simply because it calls 
attention to a social change still in progress. More 
attention is now being given to young people, in every 
department of life, than ever before. There are those 
present who remember that, in their childhood and 
youth, the literature specially designed for the young 
was very limited. Now great attention is given to 
preparing an abundance of the best literature, in 
magazines and books, for the young. Schools are 
multiplied and the means of education are so abund- 
ant that every one may now receive a liberal education 
almost without money and without price. Technical 
institutes are founded and endowed to train the young 
into skillful efficiency for all the practical pursuits of 



112 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

life. Positions of responsibility are now open to the 
young as never before. This may well be called the 
Age of Youth. 

Perhaps the change taking place in our churches 
is even greater than elsewhere. Within the last seven 
years there has been an uprising of the young people, 
and I sometimes wonder what would be the surprise 
and bewilderment if some of the saints, who flourished 
half a century ago, could return to the churches where 
once they worshiped. If one of these, after a kind 
of Rip Van Winkle sleep, should return he would 
scarcely recognize his own church. In his day but 
few young persons attended its regular services. It 
was a rare thing to find any of them in the prayer- 
meeting. Now he is greeted by the young as he 
enters the building on the Lord's day, is kindly shown 
to a front pew by a young man, is furnished a hymnal, 
with the order of service, and receives in every way 
considerate attention. He is surprised to find tlat 
most persons present are young. The singing has in 
it a joyous note quite in contrast with the doleful tone 
of his time. Everybody slugs. The prayer is less 
stately, briefer, and deals more with the personal need 
of those present. It has point. The sermon is 
fresher. It deals less with philosophical problems 
and ecclesiastical controversies, and more with the 
practical needs of the present. A youthful spirit per- 
vades the entire service. At its close he receives 
cordial greetings again, and is urged to return when- 
ever he can do so. The good old man, in his 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE. 113 

I . — — ______ 

ibewilderment, inquires as to the cause of the change he 
ihas noticed, and is told that the young people have 
[organized themselves into a Christian Endeavor 
iSociety. Of course they must needs explain to him 
what a Christian Endeavor Society is, what are 
its purposes and its principles, what its fiild and 
jmethod, how it originated and how it works among 
the churches. They had no such society in his 
day. 

It is needless to explain all these things in this 
[presence. It is needless to tell you that the first 
society was organized February, 2, 1881, in the 
Williston Church, Portland, Maine ; that it was the 
outgrowth of a gracious revival ; that its purpose was 
to band the young converts together for mutual help 
and training; that there was no thought, in organizing 
this society, of inaugurating a great movement. Its 
purpose was local. As its efficiency became known, 
the young people in other churches banded themselves 
together for the same purpose and according to the 
same methods. Societies multiplied slowly at first. 
They were naturally drawn together for conference, 
and those conferences soon attracted public attention. 
The general demand for information created a litera- 
ture, and the scattering abroad of these leaflets has 
been like the sowing of good seed in fertile soil. 
Societies have sprung up everywhere spontaneously. 
The heartiness with which it has been received by 
almost all denominations is one of the wonders of our 
time. The movement has become world-wide and 



114 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE, 

The tap-root of this tree of marvelous growth is 
the active membership pledge. All springs from this, 
and it is this that gives persistency and power and 
unity to the movement. This has been called Ihe 
backbone of Christian Endeavor, and when we con- 
sider its importance and its relation to every other 
part, we accept the name as wisely chosen. In natural 
science^ you know that the backbone occupies an im- 
portant position. The general division, with which 
we are familiar in the animal kingdom, between 
vertebrates and invertebrates runs along the line of 
the backbone. As we ascend in animal life we recog-i 
nize a stage of great progress when we come to the! 
spinal column. Nor is the spinal column less import-' 
ant in society. It indicates moral stability. It is to 
be regretted that some, in their eager desire to wear: 
the honorable name of Christian Endeavor, yet un-l 
willing to take the active membership pledge, have! 
omitted or emasculated it and have called these jelly-i 
fish organizations Christian Endeavor societies. They' 
are not. Such societies as a rule are short-lived and 
their early death is unlamented. Their graves arei 
unhonored and unknown. But societies organizedl 
upon this pledge and faithfully keeping it flourish 
with increasing vigor. They have within them the! 
fountain of perpetual youth. It is simply impossible! 
to over-estimate the vital and practical importance ot 
this simple pledge. 

Every active Endeavorer is supposed to be thor- 
oughly familiar with it. It may be well, however, 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE. 115 

for us to refresh our memories by repeating it. I ask 
you, therefore, to give thoughtful attention while I 
recite its familiar sentences : 

" Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength, 
I promise Him that I will strive to do whatever He 
would like to have me do ; that I will make it the 
rule of my life to pray, and to read the Bible 
every day, and to support my own church in every 
way, especially by attending all her regular Sunday 
and mid-wetk services, unless prevented by some 
reason which I can conscientiously give to my 
Saviour; and that, just so far as I know how, 
throughout my whole life, I will endeavor to lead a 
Christian life. As an active member, I promise to be 
true to all my duties, to be present at, and to take some 
part, aside from singing, in every Christian Endeavor 
prayer-meeting, unless hindered by some reason which 
I can conscientiously give to my Lord and Master. 
If obliged to be absent from the monthly consecration 
meeting of the society, I will, if possible, send at least 
a verse of Scripture to be read in response to my name 
at the roll-call.'^ 

Such is the active membership pledge. In order 
that we may come into a larger and better understand- 
ing of its real meaning, I call your attention to certain 
features of it : 

1. It is evidently not meant to be lightly taken. 
The very form of words with which it begins indicat s 
that something of unusual importance is about to be 
undertaken. It distinctly recognizes that we are about 



116 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

to assume an obligation which we are not able to fulfill 
in our own strength. We seek divine help. We 
enter upon it with self-distrust, but with full con- 
fidence in Christ. It is surprising to me that any 
persons have ever taken this pledge as thoughtlessly 
as some have evidently done. Its obligations, like 
those of the marriage covenant, should be taken 
" reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the 
fear of God." 

2. It is not a mutual covenant between the mem- 
bers of the society. The young people forming a 
society do not come together and pledge each other, 
but each one makes a personal pledge to the personal 
Christ — " I promise Mm." The distinction is an 
important one, and corrects a mistake all too common. 
There are those who seem to think that their pledge 
has been made to tiie society, and they conclude that 
if others fail to keep the pledge they are release d from 
its obligation. They have failed to understand its 
sacred nature and its intensely personal element. I, 
as an individual, personally promise the personal 
Christ. It is a covenant between the saved soul and 
the Saviour, and until He proves false, we are not 
free from its obligation. 

3. It is a pledge of absolute loyalty to the Lord 
Jesus. It enthrones Him over heart and conscience 
and life. It solemnly promises that we will strive to 
do whatever He would have us do. It lifts His will 
above everything else, and swears un:swcrving loyalty 
to Him. By implication it displaces all that might 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE. 117 

come between us and Him. The slightest indication 
of His wish becomes the absolute law of each life. 
Every imagination of the heart, every purpose, every 
plan, every undertaking, all that we have and are, are 
made subject to Him. A clear recognition of this 
feature of the pledge will enable us to solve doubtful 
questions, and it will make the path of duty plain. 
All we have to do, in any case, is simply to ask. What 
would the Lord Jesus have me do ? 
! 4. It indicates the way in which we are to avail 
ourselves of needed strength. If faithfully kept, we 
shall be found at least once eagh day in the closet of 
prayer. This is the rule of life. Then the gracious 
promise shall be fulfilled : " They that wait upon the 
Lord shall renew their strength." As in beginning 
the pledge, we distinctly recognize our need of divine 
help, so in this promise of daily prayer, is indicated 
the way in which that help is to be secured. The in- 
ward fountain of life is kept fresh by the daily flow of 
divine grace into the soul. We are strengthened 
mightily by His spirit in the inner man. Our daily 
life is lived by the help of a hidden power. The 
faithful keeping of every other part of the pledge is 
conditioned upon our faithful keeping of this. 
i 5. It points out how we are to learn what the will 
of Christ is : We promise to read the Bible every day. 
We do not depend upon dreams and visions and vague 
impressions. We recognize the Bible as a revelation 
of the divine will concerning us. In our daily read- 
ing of ifc we do not regard it as an amulet, a charm, a 



118 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

fetish, a thing by which its mere presence will guard 
us from evil. We accept it as " profi able for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous- 
ness : that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly 
furni.^hed unto all good works." We believe that 
God, having spoken in time past unto the fathers by 
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us 
by his Son, and that in the New Testament we have 
tlie full and final disclosure of His will. As in be- 
ginning the pledge we declared our purpose to do 
whatever Christ would have us do, so now, in this 
promise to read the Bible daily, we indicate the way 
in which we are to learn His will. | 

6. It renews our pledge of fidelity to the church. 
Everyone becoming an active member of a Christian 
Endeavor society is supposed to be already a church 
member. Upon our reception into the church certain 
obligations were implied, but in taking this pledge 
these obligations are renewed in definite form. Each 
one promises to support his own church in every way. 
It is worthy of notice that the church is the first thing 
recognized in this pledge. Up to this point it has 
been so personal, that it seems to have no thought of 
anyone beyond the person making the pledge and 
the Person to whom it is made. The church 
stands first ; it is before the society. Let all Christian 
Endeavorers make a note of this. 

7. It makes church attendance a matter of con- 
science. After our general pledge of fidelity to the 
church, and to its support, we specifically say: 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE. 119 

" Especially by attending all her regular Sunday and 
mid-week services, unless prevented by some reason 
which I can conscientiously give my Saviour." After 
one has taken this pledge he is certainly no longer at 
liberty to treat church attendance as a matter of mere 
convenience. Nor will any slight excuse be sufficient 
to give to Him who redeemed the church by His own 
blood. Imagine a person, having taken this pledge, 
going to the Saviour with some trivial excuse for his 
non-attendance at church ! The weather is unfavor- 
able, or a casual visitor has come in, or he has a slight 
headache, or he is weary through excessive attention 
to worldly affairs ! Can we conscientiously give such 
excuses as these to the Head of the church who gave 
Himself for us. 

8. It sanctifies all relationships and all service, 
saying that, "just so far as I know how, throughout 
my whole life, I will endeavor to lead a Christian 
life." That word " throughout " is exceeding broad. 
It embraces all relationship ; it includes all service. 
In the family, in the school, in the office, in the work- 
shop, at home and abroad, always and everywhere, 
that obligation rests upon us. Our pledge follows us 
to a social gathering with as much force as to a prayer- 
meeting. Up to the full measure of our knowledge, 
we are to strive to live under all circumstances as 
Christians. " Throughout my whole life " reaches 
down to the end of our days. The pledge consecrates 
us even to old age. We have enlisted for life, and 
we find our field of service everywhere. 



'20 TALKS TO YOVNG PEOPLE. 



9 It brings the young Christian into a training 
school, and pledges him « to be true to all his duties." 
Ihe Christian Endeavor society is the church's train- 
ing school. Its purposes and functions are essentially 
different from those of the Sunday-school. The Sun- 
day-school teaches; the Chrislian Endeavor society 
trains. Its purpose is to promote an earnest Christian 
lite among its members, and to make them more 
useful m the service of God. Through its different 
committees, it provides for the systematic prosecution 
of the various lines of Christian work. It puts the 
young Christian info harness. It gives him something 
to do His duties are not limited to the committee of 
which he may happen to be a member, but he is 
expected to lend a helping hand to every good enter- 
prise ,n which the society engages. Committees are 
not to do the work simply; they are to lead in the 
diiferent departments, and all are to help. The 
society thus becomes a well organized and eflScient 
training school. 

10. It pledges public participation in the regular 
meetings of the society for worship. God's chihlren 
were never meant to be dumb, and this society teaches 
them to bear public testimony for Christ. They are 
to take some part, aside from singing, in every 
Christian Endeavor prayer-meeting. Their first con- 
fession of Christ is thus followed by repeated con- 
fession of Him. The good effects of this, both upon 
themselves and upon others, demonstrate the wisdom 
of this part of the pledge. Knowing that they are 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE, 121 

expected to take part, it naturally awakens forethought 
that they may be prepared to take part well. Having 
thus committed themselves in the open meeting they 
go forth again into the world, feeling that a new 
obligation rests upon them. They are thus better 
prepared to bear personal testimony for Christ in the 
midst of their daily associations. They are trained, 
also, for greater efficiency in the meetings of the 
church for worship. 

11. It provides for special seasons of self-examina- 
tion and of renewed consecration to Christ. It recog- 
nizes the monthly consecration meeting. We are not 
so much in danger of suddenly falling away from 
Christ, as we are of gradually and almost imper- 
ceptibly drifting from Him. You may place a piece 
of wood upon a body of water that seems absolutely 
motionless, but should you return the next day you 
would find that it had floated from the place you had 
left it. There seemed no movement in the water or 
in the air, but it drifted. So it is with us ; we are in 
danger of drifting. There is a tide in society, there 
are winds blowing upon us, that tend to bear us away 
from Christ. It is wise, therefore, to have stated sea- 
sons for self-examination. Once each month, at the 
time of consecration service, each member is called to 
self-examination and to renewed consecration. They 
may have drifted from Christ during the month, but 
not too far to return. Were it not for this monthly 
call, however, they might drift and continue to drift 
and never return. 



122 TALKS TO YOUNO PEOPLE. 

12. It makes one's own conscience, in the presence 
of Christ, the test of all excuses. Twice is this dis- 
tinctly mentioned in the pledge. The only reason to 
be accepted is one that we can make in all good con- 
science to our Saviour. This is another indication 
of the sacredness with which we should regard this 
pledge. It places conscience on the judgment seat, 
and means to keep it there. Everything is called to 
answer at its bar. The light of the divine presence is 
thrown upon the decision of every question. In this 
day when persons are guided so much by the fancy of 
the hour, by mere circumstances, by their associations, 
by the prevailing opinion of the place where they 
may chance to be, when even religious and moral 
questions are treated as matters of little moment, there 
is certainly a crying need for a widespread revival of 
conscience. We need to have our moral sense quick- 
ened by a direct appeal to the ever-present Christ. 
Whenever there is a tendency to excuse ourselves from 
any duty, we should refer the question to conscience 
and ask it to consult Christ. This is the process 
pointed out in our pledge. 

These are the main features of our active member- 
ship pledge ; it is not a mutual covenant between the 
members of the society ; it is a pledge of absolute 
loyalty to the Lord Jesus ; it indicates the way in 
which we are to avail ourselves of needed strength ; it 
points out how we are to learn what the will of Christ 
is; it renews our pledge of fidelity to the church; it 
makes church attendance a matter of conscience ; it 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEA VOR PLEDGE. 123 

sanctifies all relationships and all service ; it bring the 
young Christian into a training school that he may be- 
come more useful in the service of God ; it pledges 
public participation in the regular meetings of the 
society for worship ; it provides regular seasons of 
self-examination and of renewed consecration to Christ ; 
it makes one^s own conscience, in the presence of 
Christ, the test of all excuses. These are its main 
features. What do you think of this pledge? 

It would be a thing without precedent if no ob- 
jection should be made to this pledge. In this world 
full of " many men of many minds ^' the voice of the 
adverse critic greets every new enterprise. His criti- 
cism may spring from over- caution, from his satis- 
faction with things as they are, or from his misappre- 
hension of the real purpose and character of the thing 
he criticizes. We do a great wrong in attributing an 
evil, or even an unworthy, motive to the critic. Let 
us calmly and candidly hear what the critics have to 
say: 

"It reflects on the pledge one makes in becoming 
a Christian," says one. " In the very act of becoming 
a Christian I pledged to Christ,' in the most solemn 
and public manner, that I would strive to do whatever 
He would have me do, and it seems to me it would be 
a reflection of this pledge implied in my baptism, if I 
should now sign this active membership pledge of the 
Christian Endeavor society." This is the substance of 
an objection that came to me through the mail from a 
minister in this state not long ago. I might have 



124 TALKS TO YO UNG PEOPLE. 

replied, showing that the renewal of a pledge, or even 
its mere repetition, is no reflection upon the original 
pledge. I might have shown that having said a good 
thing once is no reason why one should not say it 
again. I might have shown that in the important 
matters of life, in the things which deal with its 
fundamental purposes and principles, frequent re- 
petition is a good thing. But I said nothing of the 
kind. I simply suggested to him, that he might 
change the tense, in the opening sentences of the 
pledge, and the pledge would then be adjusted to 
his idea. I even took a card containing the active 
membership pledge and changed it, so that it read, 
^' Having put my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for 
strength, and having promised Him that I would 
strive to do whatever He would have me do ; I now 
further definitely promise, etc., etc., etc." The sug- 
gestion seemed to meet his difficulty, and I think he is 
now an active Endeavorer, notwithstanding he prefers 
the past tense ! 

'* It places the standard too high," says another, 
" it is too strict ; persons will take it, and not keep it ; 
and it is an awful thing to break a pledge as sacred 
as this." Very true; it does place the standard 
high, and I am sure there are some who take it and 
then break it. I agree with you that it is an awful 
thing to violate as sacred a pledge as this one is. 
But does that stand good as a wholesale objection 
to the pledge itself? Ought not every Christian to 
have a high standard, and is this one higher than is 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE. 125 

implied in our acceptance of Christ ? Ought not every 
Christian to trust Christ for strength, to make His 
will supreme, and to read the Bible and pray every 
day? Ought not every church member faithfully 
support his own church in every way, and to attend 
all its regular Sunday and mid-week services unless 
hindered by some excuse ? Would it not be a good 
thing if all converts were trained to take part in social 
meetings for worship, and have sea-ons for self- 
examination and renewed consecration to Christ? Is 
it a wise thing to place the standard so low that none 
can fall below it? How would this rule work else- 
where? Do we not find in every department of life 
that even the standard set by custom and common 
opinion is so high, that there are some who will not 
come to it? Would you therefore suggest that all 
these standards be lowered to a plane where all would 
certainly come up to them ? It seems to me that they 
would have to be very low indeed. Is it not better, 
is it not necessary to progress, that standards be lifted 
above the common level and that persons be brought 
up to the higher requirements? I regard it as an 
awful thing for one to make a covenant and then 
ignore it, but I do not think the remedy lies in 
changing a good covenant, but in changing bad 
people. There are those, for instance, who make the 
solemn covenant implied in Christian baptism and then 
break it, but I would not for this reason reject bap- 
tism. Nor would I reject this pledge because there 
are those who prove false to its requirements. >, , 



126 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

Another says : ^* I do not believe in pledges. I 
think every person ought to be left free, I would not 
take a pledge of any kind." In mentioning this ob- 
jection, there comes to my mind an incident that 
occurred not very long ago. In a certain church, a 
revival service had resulted in a large ingathering. 
The question of organizing the recent converts, and 
other young members, into a Christian Endeavor 
society, naturally came up and I was sent for. In a 
Sunday afternoon meeting held in the lecture room of 
the church, I briefly explained the character of the 
Christian Endeavor movement and the obligations of 
its active membership pledge. A recess was then 
taken to give those present an opportunity of talking 
the whole matter over in an informal way among 
themselves. As I was circulating in a free and easy 
way among the young people, I came up to a group 
in very earnest conversation. Near the center stood 
a young lady, to whom special attention seemed to be 
given. As I approached she said : " I think it is 
lovely; perfectly lovely. '^ What is so lovely?" said 
I. " Why, a Christian Endeavor society," said she, 
'* and I should like to be a member of one ; it is so 
lovely. But I can not take that pledge. I do n't be- 
lieve in pledges," continued she, assuming a graver 
air. " I would not take a pledge for anything. I 
believe that everyone ought to be left perfectly free." 
" You would not, under any circumstances, take a 
pl( dge ?'' I asked. " No, indeed ; I am conscientiously 
opposed to all pledges," she added with increasing 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE. 127 

gravity. " Hold on/^ said I, ^' you may find occasion to 
make an exception to that. How is it about getting 
married? That seems to me decidedly a pledge 
business^ and at our house it is understood to be a 
life-time pledge !" The case being altered, that 
seemed to alter the case. The argument prevailed, 
and I understand that she took the active membership 
pledge, and that arrangements are now made, and the 
day set, when she is to take a matrimonial pledge ! 

It seems to me that this claim to have conscientious 
scruples against all pledges logically leads to con- 
clusions none of us care to hold. As already intimated, 
it stands against the marriage contract, against the 
baptismal covenant, against the Bible itself. For 
what is the Bible but a book of covenants? From 
first to last, there are covenants, human and divine, 
with individuals, with families, with nations. The 
Bible may be defined as a book containing the record 
of two great covenants and the inspired literature be- 
longing thereto. The Old Testament deals chiefly 
with the covenant of which Moses was the mediator, 
together with the literature belonging to that coven- 
ant ; the New Testament deals exclusively with the 
covenant of which Jesus is the mediator, together with 
the literature belonging to this covenant. All our 
present relations to God are based upon this new 
covenant. All our hope springs out of it. All our 
duties are defined by it. I fail to see how anyone 
who accepts the Bible as of God, and understands its 
character, can reject the idea of covenant making or 



128 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

pledge-iaking. It is evident that the author «of the 
Bible believes in pledges. 

The fact is, the radical difference between lives 
arises from this point : Some believe in pledges, make 
them and keep them ; others do not believe in pledges 
and do not make them in order that they may enjoy w hat 
seems to them a larger liberty. Take, for example, 
two young men from your own neighborhood. They 
are equally gifted, they are equally circumstanced, 
their prospects in life seem equal. But one of them 
believes in definite pledges, makes and keeps tliem. 
The other, wishing to enjoy greater liberty, refuses to 
bind himself by pledges. Years pass by, and with 
the passing years differences become manifest. The 
young man who fancied that he would get most out of 
life by leaving himself free was regarded as a pleasant 
companion in almost any company. He was hail 
fellow, well-met, with everybody. He delighted in 
the saying, ** When in Rome, you must do as the 
Romans.'^ His course each day was determined by 
the direction in which the wind chanced to blow that 
day. If he felt like doing a thing, he did it; if he 
did not feel like it, he did not do it. He rejoiced in 
his freedom. He felt something of pity for those un- 
fortunates who found themselves hemmed in by the 
obligations of a pledge. By and by persons began to 
notice his lack of stability. His change in business 
became frequent, and now he has difficulty in securing 
a position. He must needs seek the en'lorsement cf 
influential men in order to secure a place. That looks 



THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE. 129 

bad. YouDg man, if you have been in business for a 
few years you should need no endorsement beyond your 
own record. But this young man goes down, drifting 
from place to place, until we lose sight of him. 

The other young man, feeling that he had a mis- 
sion that he must needs fulfill, bound himself to a high 
aim by definite pledges. He set the standard far 
above his present attainments. To attain to it, re- 
quired persistent effort, but he would not lower his 
standard. Everything was made tributary to the fill- 
ment of the pledge he had taken upon himself. He 
felt that it was in every way worthy his utmost effort. 
For it he practiced self-denials that seemed strange to 
others, but found within a joy that more than rec- 
ompensed for seeming loss. Those who knew him 
began to regard him as a young man of unusual 
promise. Whenever he left a business position, it 
was simply to accept a call to a better place. He 
was recognized as a person of fixed principles, steady 
habits, and trustworthy. The community began to 
look to him as a leader. His schoolmates and 
early associates began to recall with pardonable pride 
their intimate association with him in former years. 
He comes to honor, and occupies a position of power. 
He stands like a large and fruitful tree, spreading its 
branches abroad, a shelter in the time of storm, and a 
source of blessing to multitudes. That tree grew and 
flourished, because its strong tap-root was a definite 
purpose in the form of a pledge, striking into the 
depths of the soil. 



130 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

They who live nobly, live out of their best ex- 
periences. Not all hours are equal. There are even 
moments in our lives that dominate the years. There 
are purposes kindled in the heart by noble impulse, 
that flash the headlights along the way to the end of 
life's journey and even disclose its destiny. There are 
mountain peaks towering above the valley, on whose 
summit shine beacon lights to guide our feet across 
the trackless wastes. These are mounts of vision, that 
become mounts of moral transfiguration. Out of holy 
communings upon their summits, there have come to 
us through the parted heavens, open visions that have 
awakened lofty purposes. Purposes born of such 
visions as these, need to be established that they may 
become the ruling powers in our lives. They should 
dominate all after years. Those who sail the high 
seas sometimes pass through whole weeks of cloud 
and storm, without seeing the face of sun or moon or 
guiding star. They watch the skies by day and night, 
hoping that through some rift a friendly light may 
fall. At last, their wa^ch is rewarded, for through a 
momentary rift, there shines the light of a familiar 
star. That glimpse into the clear heaven was but for 
a moment. The rift closed and the seamless curtain of 
cloud veiled the skies again. But by the light of that 
moment of vision they make their reckonings and direct 
their course with certainty, toward the desired haven. 
Such moments come to every one of us. In their light 
let us make our life reckoning, and determine our life 
course. So shall we reach the desired haven in peace. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR TIMES. 



^HERE are certain great focal points of history toward which 
^** the lines of past progress have converged, and from 
which have radiated the molding influences of the future. 
Such is the Incarnation, such was the German Reformation 
of the sixteenth century, and such are the closing years of the 
nineteenth century. . . Many are not aware that we are liv- 
ing in extraordinary times.— Josiah Strong. 

Was there ever a century so crowded and burdened with 
wonders, so ablaze with glories, since the world began? Not 
to speak of our own country in particular, but of the world at 
large, what beneficent changes, what magnificent strides have 
been made, out of darkness into light, out of weakness into 
strength, out of oppression into liberty, out of political, social, 
and ecclesiastical degradation into something of the dignity 
and freedom and joyous hopefulness of true manhood.— Jsaac 
Errett. 

The Present Time — youngest born of Eternity, child and 
heir of all the Past Times with their good and evil, and parent 
of all the Future — is ever a new era to the thinking man. . . 
To know it and what it bids us do, is ever the sum of knowl- 
edge for all of us.— Thomas Carlyle. 



Lift up your eyes, and you may see another stadium of 
history advancing. Its aim will be to realize the Christianity 
of Christ himself, which is about to renew its youth by taking 

133 



134 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

to heart the Sermon on the Mount. He that sitteth on the 
throne is saying: "Behold I make all things neyy.''— Eos well 
D. Hitchcock. 

We live in a now and exceptional age. America is another 
name for Opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last 
effort of the Divine Providence in behalf of the human race. — 
Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

It is felt by every student and every statesman that some 
movement, vast and momentous, though indefinite, is pass- 
ing like a great wave over the civilized world. — The Westmin- 
ster Revieio. 

Everywhere the old order is changinsj and giving place to 
the new. The human race is now at one^ of the critical peri- 
ods of its history when the fountains of the great deep are 
broken up, and the flood of change submerges all the old- 
established institutions and conventions in the midst of 
which preceding generations have lived and died. — William 
T. Stead, 



CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR TIMES. 



I WAS born and reared not far from the farm on 
which Abraham Lincoln split rails. It was during 
the days of my youth that he rose, with bewildering 
rapidity, to the zenith of his power, and I remember 
that it used to be said, in those days, that we were too 
near him to understand his true greatness, and the 
real value of the services he was rendering the nation. 
When we stand near a great mountain we are not in 
the best position to judge of its size. Not until we 
have passed some distance out into the plain, and 
then look back, are we in position to comprehend its 
magnitude. So it is difficult to estimate correctly the 
men and the movements of our times. , We are too 
near. 

Then, too, the stream of current history is a very 
broad one. We must look out beyond our own 
neighborhood and beyond our own nation; we must 
take a world-wide view. It is comparatively easy to 
estimate the current of a stream when its shores are 
easily within sight, but when it widens until it seems 

135 



136 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

shoreless the task becomes one of great difficulty. 
The stream of current history is as broad as the race. 
We are floating on its bosom. This increases the 
difficulty. Our own movements must modify our 
judgment of the general movement, even as the 
movement of one's ship modifies the appearance of 
the movement of every other ship within sight upon 
the sea. There are also eddies and counter-currents. 
In one place the waters seem to be flowing this way, 
and, in another place, that way. We are not looking 
upon a stream whose general current may be confi- 
dently determined by any particular current we may 
chance to see. These, then, are four difficulties that 
confront me as I attempt to make some broad and 
just characterizations of our times : First, we are too 
near; second, we are moving with the current; third, 
the stream is so broad ; and, fourth, it is disturbed by 
many counter-currents. 

i But these difficulties should not deter us. The 
study will do us good. Each age has its peculiarities 
and each generation its problems; and we can not 
serve our generation wisely and well if we are igno- 
rant of the peculiarities of the age in which we live. 
We are not called to do exactly what our fathers did. 
Times have changed, and are still changing, and we 
should know how to adjust ourselves to these changes. 
It is said that history repeats itself, but a careful ex- 
amination shows that it never does. You will find 
that old factors are always dropping out and new 
ones are coming in, modifying results.^ The world 



CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR TIMES. 137 

swings in an orbit, but it never comes back to exactly 
the same point in space. It grows, and no two peri- 
ods of growth are ever exactly the same. Any period 
necessarily retains many of the characteristics of the 
period immediately preceding it, but it always has 
new ones, and these modify the old. Periods of his- 
tory are not like beads on a string, or links in a chain, 
having no other relation than that of juxtaposition. 
They are vitally joined, each period growing out of 
all that has gone before. The Present is the child of 
the Past, and always bears marks of its parentage. 
While, therefore, I shall undertake to indicate, in a 
suggestive way, some of the characteristics of our 
times, you are not to suppose that I am to indicate 
what is absolutely new, — of which there can be found 
neither likeness nor trace in all the past. I am not 
in search of the absolutely new, but of the distinct- 
ively characteristic. i 
Our times are certainly characterized by rapidity 
of movement. Everything goes with a rush. It is 
no exaggeration to say that a period of sixty years 
means more of progress now than six hundred did 
in the days of the patriarchs. Modern invention has 
greatly accelerated the pace and pulse of the world. 
Consider our means of travel, of manufacture, of the 
diffusion of knowledtje, and the influence of all these' 
upon the lives of the people. For centuries men 
traveled on foot; until within a comparatively recent 
time they could get over land only as fast as legs 
could carry them, — their own or some one's elseJ 



138 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

The horse was their best means of locomotion. They 
could move over the surface of the water only as fast 
as the laboring oar would propel them or the uncer- 
tain breeze might waft them. To cross this continent 
or to make a voyage across the sea was an event of a 
life-time in the days of our grandfathers. It was 
enough to make one famous. But now we can ac- 
complish either with comfort between Sundays. A 
trip around the world has become a pleasant vacation 
pastime. 

The work of the world goes on with a rush. 
Nothing is done as it used to be. Inventions have 
increased the producing force of the world almost 
beyond conception. It is said that England alone, 
with her modern machinery, can produce in six 
months what it would have required the entire popu- 
lation of the world one whole year to produce at the 
opening of this century. It is estimated that it 
would require two billion men to do, if unaided by 
the results of modern invention, what the laboring 
men of our own country can now produce with ease. 
We have harnessed the great forces of Nature and 
are making them our helpers in every department of 
human activity. This has resulted in marvelous in- 
crease in the wealth of the world and the comforts of 
life. Within my own life-time wealth has increased 
in Europe and the United States three times faster 
than the population. Great Britain is said to have 
multiplied her wealth by 3; France, by 4; and the 
United States, by 6. I 



CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR TIMES. 139 

But more wonderful still is the increased rapidity 
with which knowledge may now be diffused. Our 
ordinary mail facilities, with which we are s ) familiar, 
connecting not only the different parts of our own 
country, but binding all the civilized countries of the 
world by a network of lines into easy, cheap, and swift 
communication, brings every man into personal touch 
with the remote parts of the earth. The newspapers 
send out their reporters into every nook and corner 
of the world to watch its movements and to tell us 
each morning what was done everywhere on yester- 
day. When the great battle of Waterloo was fought, 
in 1815, it took the news three days to reach London, 
and then it was printed and sent out through the 
country on stage coaches traveling at the rate of eight 
miles an hour. Now, before the smoke of such a 
battle has blown away, the news has reached every 
part of the world. The electric wire, under sea and 
over land, carries the news faster than the course of 
the sun, so that in this Western world we may read 
the report of what has happened in Europe and the 
East before we have reached the hour at which it is 
said to have occurred. 

It seems to me that another characteristic of our 
times is the intimate relationship into which the scat- 
tered peoples of the earth are being brought. There 
are no longer any foreign nations. Isolation is im- 
possible. Interests are interwoven. The wide world 
is becoming one great neighborhood. The general 
diffusion of news through the daily press, and our 



140 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

modern facilities for travel and commerce are remov- 
ing the barriers which have so long separated nations, 
and they are being knit into a variety of intimate 
fellowships. Not only is there an increase in their 
mutual interests, but there is a growing recognition of 
the fact. Each contributes to the supply of the 
others, and is helped by them. Our own markets, 
for instance, are supplied from the fields and the 
factories of the world, and we are sending forth our 
ships over all seas to carry our products everywhither. 
A failure of crops over in Russia efiPects the farmer 
here. The collapse of a business house on the oppo- 
site side of the globe may be felt by business firms in 
this country. It is being demonstrated now, I think, 
that the financial policy of far-off India has a direct 
bearing upon the financial interests here at home. 
The stock exchanges of the world are now within 
electric touch, and the stock-broker anywhere must 
know the markets everywhere. 

Nor are these intimate relationships simply along 
the lines of business. There is a commerce of ideas. 
The world's thinkers — its real leaders — are coming 
into more intimate touch and fellowship than ever 
before in the history of the race. The results of 
scientific research and discovery are quickly spread 
abroad. Investigations now rapidly find their appli- 
cation in distant lands. Leading schools of thought 
have discpies among the nations. Even those who 
differ in doctrine are coming together for a candid 
canvass of differences, so that we have reached the 



CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR TIMES. 141 

period, in the progress of human thinking, when 
great international conventions and genuinely ecu- 
menical councils are held for the consideration of the 
deep and common interests of humanity. I am of 
the opinion that when posterity shall have formed its 
deliberate judgment concerning our great Columbian 
Exposition, all other features will be regarded as sec- 
ondary to its Parliament of Religions. That coming 
together of all forms of faith — Christian and non- 
Christian — that waiting together for seventeen days 
in courteous conference, and reverent worship, will 
be regarded as of far greater significance than all the 
bewildering display of the results of inventive genius 
and human industry. At no other period in the 
history of the world could such a parliament have 
been held. 

This is also sl period of organizations. Everything 
organizes. The individual is but a cog in some 
mammoth piece of machinery. There are organiza- 
tions industrial, organizations financial, organizations 
political, organizations professional, organizations sci- 
entific, organizations religious, organizations ad infi- 
nitum. A writer in a recent magazine says that he 
made a canvass of a certain town, not long ago, to 
discover, if possible, some one who did not belong to 
some kind of an organization, but he searched in 
vain. Not only that, but he found that a very large 
majority of the population sustained some kind of 
official relation to some organization ! There is, be- 
yond question, a very marked centripetal tendency 



142 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE, 

in our times. Railway lines are combined into a 
railway system. Business forms "syndicates" and 
gigantic "trusts.'^ Small factories are swallowed up 
by larger ones, and these grow to enormous propor- 
tions by the process. Capital combines to further its 
interests, and labor organizes to fight its way to a 
practical recognition of its rights. This general 
movement toward organization becomes profoundly 
significant when we note its tendency, along many 
lines, to become world-wide. Easy and rapid com- 
munication makes it possible to combine the interests 
of any class throughout the world, and to move the 
scattered parts of any organization as if it were a 
compact army. A labor strike on the docks of Liv- 
erpool is sustained by the sympathetic support of 
labor organizations the world over. This is one of 
the characteristic features of our times, and it is pro- 
foundly significant. 

It is manifest, in many ways, that we are living 
in times of widespread unrest. Humanity is a troubled 
sea. Look in whatever direction we may, examine 
into any department of life, and there are manifold 
evidences of deep disquietude. The entire commer- 
cial world is passing through a period of unparalleled 
commotion, and business houses are tumbling into ruin 
as if shaken by an earthquake. Throughout the 
entire political world may be heard ominous murmur- 
ings of discontent. The impression is gaining 
currency that there is something radically wrong. 
Society is dissatisfied with itself. The old theories of 



CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR TIMES. 143 

political economy are being radically revised. The 
simple fact is, the entire list of the sciences is under- 
going such changes that the text-books in general 
use only a few years ago are now quite generally laid 
aside. There is deep and widespread religious un- 
rest. To some it seems as if the very foundations of 
feith were being removed. Old dogmas are being 
cast overboard, and old customs are being openly 
abandoned. Heresy is becoming popular. Over- 
shadowing all this is the feeling everywhere of vague 
and awful uncertainty. Without exaggeration, we 
may say that we have come upon times that try men's 
souls. 

There is also a certain boldness of thought charac- 
ter'stic of our times. Men no longer timidly question, 
nor do they confine their questions to surface matter?, 
but they descend to those matters that lie at the very 
foundation of church and society, of faith and morals. 
They boldly demand to know the real source of 
authority, and the ultimate ground of right. Tradi- 
tion is laughed to scorn. The demand for the revision 
of ancient creeds is becoming more pronounced, and 
more general. With all this there has grown up a 
certain lack of reverence — reverence for office, for 
institutions, for age, for God. Boldness in denying 
and in rejection is mistaken for personal independence 
of a praiseworthy kind, and the ability to ask ques- 
tions — whether pert or pertinent — passes for wisdom. 

There is a rising of the masses ^ as never before. 
There is a general diffusion of intelligence, and 



144 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

popular intelligence is the world's sap. Growth is 
on the nations. Austria, Denmark, Britain, Ger- 
many, the Netherlands, Italy, and Switzerland have 
compulsory education. It exists, nominaMy, in 
Greece and in Portugal. Increased appropriations 
for the cause of education are being made in France, 
in Spain, and in Russia. In former times the theory 
seems to have been that education was for the select 
few at the top, and that it was better for the masses 
to remain in ignorance ; but governments are coming 
to understand that it pays to educate the people — that 
education makes better servants, better soldiers, better 
citizens. This education, however, brings with it a 
certain discontent, and develops a consciousness of 
worth and rights and power. It uplifts. It nurtures 
the spirit of democracy, and works with the silent 
persistency of yeast. The masses are rising. We are 
coming into the age of the reign of the common peo- 
ple. The circumstances of family and of fortune 
count for less and less, while there is a corresponding 
increase in the recognition of the inherent worth of 
man. This change manifests itself in the change that 
has come in the writing of history. Until within a 
comparatively recent period history dealt with the 
doings of kings, and courts, and the commanders of 
armies. Almost no allusion was made to the masses 
of the people. They were treated as cattle. But 
now, the present-day historian tells of the common 
people — of their industries, their social life, their 
customs and laws, and whatever had to do with their 



CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR TIMES. 145 

well-being. We are in an enlarging circle of personal 
liberty. Even woman is beginning to be recognized 
as having " certain inalienable rights'^ ! 

There is a marked increase of interest in sociolog- 
ical questions. Man seems to be taking a fresh 
interest in his fellows. A new literature has grown 
up within the past few years, dealing in a new way, 
with the theory of society and the practical problems 
arising from man!s relation to his fellow man. Papers 
and magazines devoted to these subjects find a large 
circle of earnest readers. Even our fiction is becom- 
ing largely sociological, and some of the most popular 
novels to-day owe their popularity, not to their plot, 
but to their treatment of sociological questions. The 
subject is receiving unusual attention in our leading 
schools, and students are making a study at first 
hand, as well as from books. Whatever facts throw 
light on the situation are largely sought after. Col- 
lege settlements are founded in the most degraded 
and needy sections of our great cities for the study of 
the problems and the practical application of theories. 
Evidences of the growth of the altruistic spirit are, 
happily, quite abundant. Theology is becoming more 
ethical, and religion is more intimately related to 
daily life. It is showing more of the spirit of the 
Good Samaritan. 

We must certainly regard the present marked 
tendency toward Christian union as one of the char- 
acteristics of our own times. We have but recently 
emerged from a long period of debate and division. 



146 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

Controversy kept the spirit of contention alive, and 
widened the breach. Party lines were closely drawn. 
" The Jews ivould have no dealings with the Sama- 
ritans." But a gradual and a most gratifying change 
is taking place. The pulpit has become irenic. 
Points of agreement now receive the most cordial 
recognition. Party walls are so low, or else so 
opened by breaches, that interdenominational inter- 
course has ceased to be a novelty. Some of the most 
vigorous movements of our times, such as the Chris- 
tian Endeavor, and the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation, are run along interdenominational lines. 
Most of the leading religious bodies have standing 
committees on Christian Union, and the subject has 
become popular. It was not so forty years ago. Let 
us be duly grateful for the change. It indicates 
that professed Christians are rising to a higher spir- 
itual plane. 

The missionary movements of our times are char- 
acteristic. Probably this century will be noted for 
its missionary enterprises more than for anything else. 
The church is yet far from being fully awake to the 
importance of this work, but when we compare its 
present activities with its indifference at the opening 
of this century, the change is most gratifying. The 
story of modern missions reads like a romance. Look 
at India, and consider the obstacles ; yet the gospel 
of Christ has made its way to every part of the vast 
mass of civilized humanity in that ancient land, and 
is now an active, aggressive power in every branch of 



CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR TIMES. 147 

social and political life. Wiiile every other faith is 
decaying in India, Christianity is moving forward 
with increasing rapidity. When we read of the 
baptism of nearly nine thousand persons in ten days 
at Ongole, we are reminded of the first victories of 
the cross under apostolic preaching. Look at the 
South Sea Islands. When the first missionary arrived 
he found himself among fierce cannibals, but he lived 
to see these very cannibals gather reverently around 
the Table of our Lord. Look at New Guinea. A 
quarter of a century ago they were savages, but now 
it is said that a stranger is as safe there as he is here. 
Look at the Sandwich Islands. Within the memory 
of some present they have been transformed by mis- 
sionary effort and brought within the fellowship of 
Christian nations. Consider the change wrought in 
Japan. The world is amazed at her progress, her 
enterprise, her improvement in government, and in 
all that belongs to civilized life, her victories in the 
field — but behind all these we find the missionary 
with his quickening message. Even darkest Africa 
is being illuminated. There are now over seven hun- 
dred ordained missionaries and seven thousand five 
hundred ordained and unordained native preachers in 
Africa, with eighty thousand adherents of Christianity 
under their care. 

We are living in strange and stirring times. The 
movement of current history is rapid; the world is 
a neighborhood ; great organizations abound ; there 
is widespread unrest; there is great boldness of 



148 TALKS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

thought ; the masses of the people are rising ; man^s 
interest in his fellows is deepening; the discords of 
the church are passing away ; and the armies of the 
Lord seem to be preparing to march forth to the 
conquest of the world. All the characteristics oi 
our times have a prophetic cast. Thoughtful persons 
feel that we stand at the opening of a new era 
in the history of our race, and that America is the 
strategic point. The times call for men and women 
of moral earnestness and independence, of industry 
and useful ambition. Hold fast to the Christ, and let 
him be your Master in thought, in purpose, in method, 
in life. Never has a generation come upon the stage 
with such magnificent opportunities as those which 
greet young Americans to-day. God bless you, and 
give you to see and to seize the opportunity to do 
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